Author: Jeff Lindsay
ISBN: 978-140-911347-8
RRP: $32.99
Dexter really is delicious, if you like your heroes a little left of average – quite a lot left actually. Dexter is quite a contradiction of terms, even within himself. A forensic blood-spatter expert who is queasy at the sight of blood, one of the heroes of our story who spends quite a bit of time on the far side of the law. The list goes on but I think you get where I’m going.
This is a tale of modern day vampires, without the romanticism of any of the traditional vampire stories. Vampires made with cosmetic dentistry and a taste for human flesh and blood. A coven of cannibals which use a vampire themed nightclub as the centre of their operations. Which is not what I was expecting from this book at all. It tickles my fangs as I think about it now, even when I leave my favourite genre I am given something that satisfies my vampiric cravings.
Dexter is Delicious chronicles the growth of Dexter Morgan from a homicidal sociopath living quite a productive life pretending to be just like everyone else during the day and living out his true tendencies at night into the normal husband, father and family man he’s been portraying. Dexter holds quite a narrative with us throughout the book about where he’s been and where he wants to be. His imagination and self description can be quite darkly amusing and he is always ready with a resonant description of himself at all stages of his development.
Dexter describes himself as not human, though with the birth of his beautiful daughter he has started feeling and wants to become the human he has portrayed for so long. To grow into the husband and father with genuine emotions rather than programmed responses to situations. He also describes to us the Dark Passenger riding along in his mind, it is the Passenger that drives his nocturnal urges. This Passenger at times sounds like the opposing force of a conscience, and at other times strikes a chord with me of a multiple personality type disorder.
The feeling I get right from the first page is that Dexter feels it’s an all or nothing situation, he is Dark Dexter or Daddy Dexter, it’s black and white – there is no middle ground. Part of his growth is realising that nothing in life is black or white, there are always shades of gray.
Dexter’s Dark Passenger is quite good at recognising the same qualities in others, and is always alert to the surroundings and feel of a situation. The Dark Passenger is an early warning alarm of anything wrong with a situation which often serves to get Dexter out of hot water. The ability to recognise similar qualities in others has seen him take his stepchildren under his wing and mentor them into becoming efficient and productive homicidal sociopaths remaining out of the spotlight. Dexter’s personal change of direction sees him decide to bring the children back into the light of humanity also, which is met with mixed feelings from the children. I will be interested to see how this goes in future tales of Dexter.
Jeff Lindsay’s series of Dexter books is also now a major award winning TV series. I was always interested in watching Dexter but never quite found the time so I don’t know how this relates to the series. This novel has definitely turned me into a fan of Dexter, intrigued to find out about his beginnings and follow his growth.
Showtime has renewed Dexter for a 5th season, which will premiere in the US in September 2010.
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I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!