Dexter in the Dark: A Novel
by Jeff Lindsay
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jeff LindsayEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-09-18
ISBN: 0385518331
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of Dexter in the Dark: A Novel
Book Review: Dreadfully Dull Dexter
Summary: 2 Stars
After two very entertaining novels, Jeff Lindsay apparently ran out of things to say about Dexter Morgan, and borrowed a trick from comic books: when in doubt, just reinvent the character. Thus, in the third outing, Dexter is shown to have been a vessel of the spawn of the evil god Moloch all along, a completely baffling supernatural departure from the original premise.
Originally explained as a result of terrible childhood trauma, Dexter's psychopathy is now attributable to his being invested by a demon, and what's more, in Dexter's world, this is what causes all psychopaths to do what they do. To his readers, most of whom were expecting a psychological thriller, Lindsay now serves up what is little more than bargain-basement Lovecraft. Other plot elements, such as Dexter's impending marriage or relationship with his somber, equally psychopathic stepchildren, are laboriously stretched out or tossed around.
The novel suffers from Lindsay's usual weaknesses: he is a particularly uneconomical writer, and as with the first two novels, fills the story with scenes that do nothing to advance the plot, seemingly to show off his urbane style. The general impression is that Lindsay sits down to write with only the vaguest notion of what is going to happen: characters and plot strands are introduced and then fizzle out unceremoniously (in this instance, the reintroduction of Sergeant Doakes seems especially pointless), and then, once the plot has gone on long enough, the author seems to realise that it must resolve itself, and hastily tacks on an ending.
Lindsay also seems to want the reader to like Dexter so much that he backs away from the original premise of his being a cold-blooded killer: over the course of the three novels, we keep being reminded that the main character is a psychopath, incapable of emotion, but it certainly doesn't seem that way. It is as if Dexter's dapper disguise is so good that it has charmed his own creator.
So, not such a good show, really, though Lindsay's main strength, a witty pen, is still there - the novel entertains hugely when Dexter is trading quips with the other characters or simply being his humorous self, a bit as if Robert Mitchum's part in Night of the Hunter had accidentally been given to Cary Grant. If the series is to continue, Lindsay had better get his engine back on track (and he might benefit from finding a good editor). It would be fun to see a fourth novel, in which Dexter is married with two homicidal children, but it will take far more work than this offering.
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