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| Dearly Devoted Dexter | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeff Lindsay
Creator: Nick Landrum
Publisher: Recorded Books
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $19.18
You Save: $10.81 (36%)
New (15) Used (7) from $17.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  112 reviews
Sales Rank: 155522
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Items: 8
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1419335170
EAN: 9781419335174
ASIN: 1419335170
Publication Date: July 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
He’s a charming monster . . .
A macabre hero . . .
A serial killer who only kills bad people
Dexter Morgan has been under considerable pressure. It’s just not easy being an ethical serial killer—especially while trying to avoid the unshakable suspicions of the dangerous Sergeant Doakes (who believes Dexter is a homicidal maniac . . . which, of course, he is). In an attempt to throw Doakes off his trail, Dexter has had to slip deep into his foolproof disguise. While not working as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, he now spends nearly all his time with his cheerful girlfriend, Rita, and her two children, sipping light beer and slowly becoming the world’s first serial couch potato. But how long can Dexter play Kick the Can instead of Slice the Slasher? How long before his Dark Passenger forces him to drop the charade and let his inner monster run free?
In trying times, opportunity knocks. A particularly nasty psychopath is cutting a trail through Miami—a man whose twisted technique leaves even Dexter speechless. As Dexter’s dark appetite is revived, his sister, Deborah (a newly minted, tough-as-nails Miami detective) is drawn headlong into the case. It quickly becomes clear that it will take a monster to catch a monster—but it isn’t until his archnemesis is abducted that Dex can finally throw himself into the search for a new plaything. Unless, of course, his plaything finds him first . . .
With the incredible wit and freshness that drew widespread acclaim to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay now takes Dexter Morgan to a new level of macabre appeal and gives us one of the most original, colorful narrators in years.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 107 more reviews...
 Dexter gets under your skin....eeew.... December 12, 2005
57 out of 59 found this review helpful
Jeff Lindsay's Dexter is serial-killer-slash-detective, a tortured soul who works as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police department. Dexter has trained himself only to kill other serial killers, which gives Dexter a veneer of creepy heroism. In "Dearly Devoted Dexter," Dexter is on the hunt for a villain once betrayed by fellow members of a former Special Forces team, a criminal who actually leaves his victims alive (but, yikes, limbless lipless earless noseless), after kidnapping them and carving them up bit by bit.
Lindsay's Dexter narrates his own story; in combination with Dexter's easy-going friendly manner and his strangely "good-guy" motivations (catch the villain), this leads the reader to be on Dexter's side, to see things through his eyes, so to speak.
So occasionally while reading this book I would suddenly realize I was rooting for someone who would give Hannibal Lecter a run for his money, and a cold shiver would run down my spine. Very sneaky, Mr. Lindsay! If you like getting creeped out, in true horror-movie fashion, this will definitely suit you. On the other hand, if you couldn't bear "Silence of the Lambs," you'd best run away from Dexter before he gets inside your head....brrrrr....
Dexter's domestic disguise September 27, 2005
36 out of 36 found this review helpful
Dexter leads a double life as both a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department and a serial killer who discretely dispatches only other demonic evildoers. He's back from his first story, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter," for more dastardly dealings. This time, he finds himself under suspicion by Police Sergeant Doakes. Dexter can't help feeling that Doakes is as much a monster as he is, and that monsters recognize their own kind. When Doakes begins a constant surveillance that prevents Dexter from heeding the call of his Dark Passenger, he spends an uncomfortable amount of time with his girlfriend Rita and her two kids in an effort to appear domestic. To his chagrin, he is becoming a bit too normal for his own liking. Luckily, he is conscripted by his police detective sister to help investigate a new rash of grotesque serial killings that give even a monster like Dexter pause. When the killer absconds with Doakes, Dexter feels an obligation to help his sister track down the killer, even if, by saving Doakes, he will be forced to remain trapped in a life of normalcy.
I wondered if author Jeff Lindsay would be able to pull off another novel about the endearingly inhuman Dexter without reverting to telling the same story twice. He did an admirable job doing just that. As in his first story, Lindsay combines humor along with Dexter's dispassionate acknowledgment as an unfeeling monster. But this time, he provides several fresh new facets to Dexter's personality: first his new role as a reluctant domesticated man, and second his innate understanding of, and gentleness with, children. This short book is a quick and entertaining read. I recommend it for its innovative depiction of a murderous psychopath that a reader can actually like and root for.
Eileen Rieback
Daring Dauntless Dexter April 17, 2007
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Dexter Morgan is a serial killer confounded by compunction distilled in his delicate youth by a devoted foster father who saw him for what he was and sought to protect him from the probing police. The Code of Harry is the creed that commits Dexter to allow his Dark Passenger to dissect and dismember only the deserving - pedophiles, murderers - before leading them slowly into death.
Okay...enough of my feeble attempt at replicating Jeff Lindsay's lively alliterative style. But if you found the above paragraph remotely entertaining, you're sure to find Lindsay's skilled pen far more enjoyable. His "positively prancing prose", as I referred to it in my reviews of Darkly Dreaming Dexter, makes the book a joy to read. Even more fascinating is that we're in Dexter's head the entire time, as Dexter himself is the narrator.
For an emotionless killer, Dexter has a great sense of humor and his cold detachment from everyday life makes his insights into the human psyche even more amusing and telling. For example, "I have always felt that it was preferable to think with my brain, rather than with certain other wrinkled parts located slightly south. I mean, seriously, don't people ever *see* themselves, staggering around drooling and mooning, all weepy-eyed and weak-kneed and rendered completely idiotic over something even animals have enough to sense to finish quickly so that they can get on with more sensible pursuits, like finding fresh meat?"
In "Dearly Devoted Dexter", Sergeant Doakes, who Dexter believes has seen the emptiness inside of him, follows Dexter everywhere and "sits on him". Frustrated in his pursuit of a pedophile to feed his Dark Passenger, Dexter tries to live out a more normal existence, which is part of the Code of Harry - blend in. To do so, he starts to spend more time with his girlfriend Rita. After all, what's more normal than a guy having a girlfriend? He even puts on hearty good-night kisses as part of his show to Doakes - although Dexter knows he isn't fooling him.
A particularly twisted sociopath makes an appearance, and even Dexter is impressed with the technique. That made for a good scene: he stood admiring what was left of the newcomer's work while the majority of the Miami police force was vomiting last week's pizza. This new nut has ties to Washington, El Salvador, and Tito Fuentes - good luck putting that puzzle together! When someone from Washington that's bigger than the "feds" arrives to take over the case, Dexter's foster sister Deborah falls for him, and her involvement in the case (which realistically should be minimal) increases. This means that so does Dexter's (whose involvement, as a lab tech, should be Zero). Deb relies on Dexter for help, and while Dexter has difficulty understanding why he should be bothered, he always gives in when she reminds him that he is family.
Dexter claims constantly that he is not human, yet in a flashback we see him emotionally wrought over Harry's death, and while he is loathe to admit it, he feels something with his sister as well. To give you another insight into Dexter's twisted mind, this occurs after Dexter and Deb find themselves in their car, upside down, under water. "A real human being might have thought of his drowning sister much sooner, but really, let's be fair, one can only expect so much from an imitation...But although I was not really reluctant to rush to the rescue, I couldn't help thinking that we were asking a bit much of Dutifully Dashing Dexter this evening, weren't we?"
The police procedural aspects are virtually nonexistent here. If that's all you enjoy in crime fiction, you probably won't want to add this to your list. And Lindsay stretches things a bit - homicidal sociopaths turn up a bit too often for my taste, and Dexter, a mild mannered lab tech, has far too much to do with a rather terrifying investigation than is believable. But if you like the idea of a story told from the POV of a serial sociopath with a conscience and a killer sense of humor, wit, and insight, you can't go wrong with this. You'll find yourself laughing aloud and genuinely liking Dexter. Lindsay doesn't spend much time on Dexter's deviousness, which is wise, because if we saw Dexter at play, we couldn't possibly like him. But with this distance, as Entertainment Weekly said, Dexter is "maybe the first serial killer who unabashedly solicits our love." Both books in the series have come in at under 300 pages, so they're a light easy read.
Dexter is..... October 27, 2006
9 out of 20 found this review helpful
I find it so interesting how people call this idea "original" etc. Honestly, It's not unheard of. I'd thought about it for a long time, and as an aspiring author, I've written many short stories myself about this sort of thing. Jeff Lindsay's take on it, blew me away! The detail was amazing, and the story itself intese (though I poked fun at the ending b/c I guessed it on my way there). The way it's written makes it hard for anyone not to fall in love with Dexter. His sence of emotion, the "Dark Passenger", are some of the greatest quotes that I will reflect on time and time again.
Although I was a little disapointed that the Showtime Series didn't use that phrase quite as much as I would have liked it to, nor the empasis of the "need" that Dexter has to kill people.
Honestly, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and Dearly Devoted Dexter, are two novels that everyone should read at least once in their lives.
And if you're not a reader, these are some books that you should definatly try to read in your life time, and you will not regret it.
A Rare Superior Sequel December 18, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Things are looking up for Dexter Morgan, blood-splatter analyst and secret serial killer. Thanks to the events of the first novel, his sister Deb is a detective in homicide. His pseudo-girlfriend continues to be just what he needs to keep his cover as a normal person. And he's stumbled on to a child murderer that desperately needs the kind of attention that only Dexter can provide. The one dark spot is Sgt. Doakes, a homicide detective who "knows" Dexter for what he is, even he can't prove it.
But that changes one morning when the victim of unspeakable torture is discovered, his limbs, tongue, genitals and eyelids systematically removed, but left alive. Dexter and Deb are recruited into an investigation by the federal government to hunt the culprit, known only as "Dr. Danco", a man who once worked for the government during one of its sordid wars in Latin America; a man who has perfected his method for torturing people for decades. And one of his targets is Doakes. But why should Dexter care?
It's the rare sequel that is an improvement over its progenitor. Jeff Lindsay's "Dearly Devoted Dexter" is such a sequel. Dexter is a little more polished as a character, a little more likeable and consistent. While he still remains distant from his sister and his girlfriend, all while putting the airs of a devoted loved one, his relationship with his girlfriend's children is more concrete, suggesting true warmth and sincerity on Dexter's part. The possibility that Dexter might actually more to offer than his ability to know and kill other creatures like him defines the character as something more than simply a literary curiosity.
More importantly, the plot is stronger in this second book, as the antagonist sharply better defined and the stakes for the protagonists are clearer earlier on, with a resolution that is logical and comprehendible. The images of this cold blooded torturer casually removing body parts from his victims, leaving an insane, barking stump of a human being are chilling, creating solidly gripping and suspenseful tale. The tension is heightened when it becomes clear that even the highly trained intelligence officers tracking Dr. Danco aren't necessarily equipped to capture him, leaving the reader to wonder what good Dexter might do.
Lindsay has a definite sense for dialog and character development. In the two books he's published thus far, Lindsay has demonstrated that he has the potential to write some truly great works of fiction for his Dexter character. I eagerly await future volumes in this series.
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