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Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
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. The Killer Character That Inspired the Hit Showtime Series Dexter
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.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 19, 2004
      A starred or boxed review indicates a book of outstanding quality. A review with a blue-tinted title indicates a book of unusual commercial interest that hasn't received a starred or boxed review.

      DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER
      Jeff Lindsay
      . Doubleday
      , $22.95 (304p) ISBN 0-385-51123-X

      It's been years since there's been a thriller debut as original as this one by Lindsay, who takes a tired subgenre—the serial-killer novel—and makes it as fresh as dawn. Lindsay's premise alone is worthy: narrator Dexter Morgan, a blood-spatter specialist for the Miami cops, is also a serial killer. But all his life, Dexter has followed the rules set down by his cop foster father (who knew of Dexter's proclivities), to indulge his passion only by slaying other serial killers. What makes this novel zing, though, is the narration—humorous, self-deprecating, smart and sometimes lyrical, it's a macabre fun ride ("I thought about the nice clothes that I always wore. Well of course I did. I took pride in being the best-dressed monster in Dade County"). The story opens with Dexter at play, kidnapping and killing a priest who has murdered a number of children, then moves on to the main plot, a series of gruesome killings of prostitutes by an unknown madman. Dexter's foster sister is a Miami Vice Squad cop working on the killings, so Dexter decides to help her solve the case. This puts him in conflict with a dumb but ambitious female homicide detective as well as, soon enough, the killer himself, whose approach to serial killing mirrors Dexter's own, uncomfortably so. Might Dexter himself be the culprit? The answer feels a bit contrived, but will surprise most readers, and it's a minor flaw in a gripping, deliciously offbeat novel that announces the arrival of a notable new talent. Agent, Nicholas Ellison. (On sale July 27)

      Forecast:
      Strong reviews on this title will alert readers, as will clever jacket art, depicting a smiley face painted in blood. Expect healthy sales.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Think that a sympathetic serial killer (he only kills other serial killers) is too big a stretch? Think again--this book is gruesome but amazingly entertaining, tightly plotted, with keen character-izations and a great deal of wit. And it may well be even more effective in the ear than on the page, since Nick Landrum gives smooth, handsome, polite, deranged Dexter Morgan a really charming, disarming voice--just what your damaged, murderous, but other-wise pure-hearted hero needs to keep you hooked. Dexter's foster sister, a cop who longs to make detective, his girlfriend (who has no idea what she's dealing with in Dexter), and a wide range of other high- and lowlifes are equally winning. It's quite a trip. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 2, 2004
      Audio reviews reflect PW
      's assessment of the audio adaptation of a book and should be quoted only in reference to the audio version.
      Fiction
      DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER
      Jeff Lindsay
      , read by Nick Landrum. Recorded Books
      , unabridged, seven CDs, 8.25 hrs., $22.99 ISBN 1-4025-8138-6

      Miami blood spatter specialist Dexter Morgan is not your average monster. He occasionally gives in to the impulse to kill in order to satisfy the Dark Passenger inside his brain, but he's much more well-adjusted than the label "serial killer" implies. He has a girlfriend, a sense of humor and, thanks to the loving tutelage of his cop foster father, he dismembers only other serial killers. But his self-control is sorely tested when he agrees to help his sister, a vice cop, solve a string of murders so bizarre, and yet so familiar, that he seriously starts to wonder if he is committing them in his sleep. Voiceover artist Landrum does a superb job conveying Dexter's witty first-person narration; he seems to embody "quirky, funny, happy-go-lucky, dead-inside Dexter." With his nimble vocal chords, he also has no trouble giving voice to the story's female characters and affecting an authentic-sounding Cuban accent for the incompetent homicide detective assigned to the case. Perhaps Landrum's finest feat, however, is the chill-inducing voice he adopts for Dexter's Dark Passenger, which underscores Dexter's transformations from charming neighborhood killer into inhuman predator. Refreshingly original and expertly narrated, this audiobook should be required listening for all thriller aficionados. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Forecasts, Apr. 19).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:780
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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