Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter Morgan 1) by Jeff Lindsay



The Basis for a New Showtime® Original Series Starring Michael C. Hall  

Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened–of himself or some other fiend.  

From the Trade Paperback edition.

After spending two weeks rewatching 60+ hours of the serial killer we love. I was still jonesin’ like a crack addicted; God I can’t wait for Season 7 to start. So I decided to read Darkly Dreaming Dexter the book that inspired the series. I usually don’t read the books that inspire television show. With nearly a month between when I finished season 6 episode 12 and season 7 episode 1, my craving would have made me start the series over again.  

Okay. So when I started I expected a condensed version of the television show. This is not it. For the most part you get the broad strokes of the Dexter season 1 in this novel with several changes. Dexter Morgan seems less principled in the novel than in show. I didn’t really like that aspect of the character. His Dark Passenger is also more of an entity than an aspect of his personality. It makes him seem more schizophrenic than psychopathic.  

Even Deborah seemed less confident and capable in the novel. At least the show writers still managed to bring Deborah’s foul mouth. I think that was one of the highlights of this novel. Her foul mouth is a creation of Jeff Lindsay and not the show writers.  

For the majority of this book it reads like a very condensed first season of the television show. It made for a very boring read. But it does have few twists toward the end that makes it worth the read.  

There are several differences but two major ones that firmly separated the novel from the series. The death of a character at the end of this book; along with Debs discover of Dexter’s secret. It changes the dynamic of the novels going forward. Debs discovery is just now only being address whereas the novels has five or six more books to deal with this complication in Dexter’s life.  

After reading this novel I’m less in enthused to read the next novel but at some point I will finish the series. As I sit here and write I’m starting to ask questions that weren’t addressed. Some come from the differences in the novel and series and others come from the novel itself.  

I recommend this novel to those dedicated fans that love Dexter. Casual fans may not appreciate the differences between the two. I know that the novels came first and I still don’t like some of the differences, they enriched the characters.


I give Darkly Dreaming Dexter 3 out 5 Gs.