Description from Amazon:
Dexter Morgan has always lived a happy
homicidal life. He keeps his dark urges in check by adhering to one steadfast
rule...he only kills very bad people. But now Dexter is experiencing some major
life changes - don’t we all? - and they’re mostly wrapped up in the eight-pound
curiosity that is his newborn daughter. Family bliss is cut short, however,
when Dexter is summoned to investigate the disappearance of a 17-year-old girl
who has been running with a bizarre group of goths who fancy themselves to be
vampires. As Dexter gets closer to the truth of what happened to the missing
girl, he realizes they are not really vampires so much as cannibals. And, most
disturbing...these people have decided they would really like to eat Dexter.
So I admit I’m very late to the Dexter
scene. Had heard of the series but didn’t start watching it until recently. And
I never realised it was based on books! So when I found this book (dumb of me
to start on #5) and started reading and saw that Dexter is having a baby at the
same place I am at in the series, I laughed. But the difference in which
characters are living (or what physical state they are in) between the series
and book makes it confusing. Plus the number of people who know his secret is
odd. I don’t get why the kids would understand and agree with his “dark
passenger” and both think it’s fine. It’s hard not to compare the series to the
book because I don’t have the understanding of characters in the previous books,
so all I can picture is how they were on the screen.
The inner monologue/voiceover is Dexter to
a T, and really adds to the turmoil he is going through now that his baby Lily
Anne has completely changed his life. A lot of reviewers said it made him too
soft in this book but I think the concern he has that he could pass his genes
to his child or that someone like him could “happen” to his child would make
him more worried. I did find, though, that the story seemed to happen around
him. He didn’t really do a lot in the story himself. And that is very different
from what I would expect of Dexter, considering his willingness to make a plan
to ensure something happens to the bad guy (I use guy as a turn of phrase here).
So... teenagers go missing and this leads
to a club of vampires and eventually a group of cannibals, where we learn of
fetishes to eat human flesh but also fetishes to be eaten. Deborah is fixated on
rescuing these girls no matter the cost and also has no qualms about putting a toe
over the line. I found this Deborah very overbearing and judgmental, and her
constantly punching Dexter in the arm? Annoying. It might have been a sibling trait
that ran through the books, but come on. Use it once or twice. Deborah also has
someone she loves in this book and her feelings about Dexter’s baby bring up
her maternal instincts. Deborah? Maternal instincts? Oh yes. And this leads to a
revelation that will take Deborah on a path not quite expected.
Rita’s character is even more simpering in
the book. On screen she is wishy-washy and her “powerful” moments are soggy at
best. But in this book? Falling for Brian’s “dear lady”? Barf... I suppose she will
be Lily Anne’s light to Dexter’s dark. But not an inspiring character at all.
Bad guys, rescues, getting off because
Daddy has money... all part of the endgame. But sadly, the ending is easily
guessable. Dexter’s drug-induced physical scene? Waste of space. Not necessary
at all. And a certain character at the end wanting to help another after the
stunts they pulled with them previously? Doubtful. Still not a bad book to read
though, but not in the blood splatter/will he or won’t he realm of the on-screen
series. I’d read the next book just to see Deborah’s path and whether Dexter’s
mojo is darkened again, but wonder if characters are losing the plot...
