Product Description

Dexter Morgan is busy planning his wedding to Rita to complete his nice-guy disguise. But when a student is found burnt, molested and headless - seemingly sacrificed to an ancient god - and Dex is brought in as forensic analyst to help investigate, he realises he could be dealing with someone a whole lot more sinister than he is. Soon it seems the dark passenger in Dexter's head has gone into hiding. And when something creeps out your friendly neighbourhood serial killer, you know it's serious . . . As Halpern and Dexter are stalked by death, it looks like it's getting personal - especially as Dex now has a family to protect. Gradually, Dexter realises his stepchildren might share his extracurricular interest in death. Could he help them target their bloodlust, just as he steers his own? But to do that, Dex must cope with a certain mutilated sergeant from his past, and more importantly . . . stay alive . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2342 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

DAILY EXPRESS
"Dark humour at its creepy best"

Review
"Dark humour at its creepy best" (DAILY EXPRESS )

DAILY EXPRESS
'Entertainingly idiosyncratic as usual'

Customer Reviews

And then Jeff put a foot badly wrong....
I can but echo the other reviews making disappointed noises about this latest installment in the Dexter series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, which had a sound balance of dark wit and grande guignol which ensured they were a cracking read.

However, Mr Lindsay really drops the ball on this one. The initial premise is good (where does the Dark Passenger come from?), but the plot has gaping holes that are shockingly large, and many of the relationships between characters are tired retreads from the second book.

Its extremely difficult to air my objections without ruining the story, so I'm going to have to hold my tongue for the moment. However, I'm sure that most readers who've enjoyed the other books will come away feeling cheated, and with a bit of reflection will spot the rather massive (not to mention illogical) errors made by Mr Lindsay regarding the latest deadly opponents he's conjured up to oppose Dexter. Bad call, brother.

It would be cynical of me to suggest he's banged out this latest episode to cash in on the popularity arising from the TV series and flog a few more books, but I am, so I will. This book smells of tired ideas and impending deadlines, and a publisher wanting the latest installment to grab that cash whilst Dexter is 'on the radar'.

I'll probably still read the next one in the series, in the hope that some inspiration has struck. But as things stand, and on the basis of this latest offering, don't expect the series to go beyond five books before Mr Lindsay runs out of things to say about his amusing character.

Deeply Disapointing Dexter
Although Jeff Lindsay's third Dexter novel does have some of the style that made the first two enjoyable there is an irritating strand that converts this entry in the series from a crime novel to a fantasy and a somewhat trite fantasy at that.

Dexter, the artificial human being, in the sense that his apparent humanity is entirely a work of artifice, continues his twin careers as serial killer of deserving victims and Miami police blood splatter specialist and adds a third as mentor and guide to the burgeoning appetites of his fiancee's children. A pair of monsters in the making. So far so good. What spoils the book is the characterisation of the serial killing tendency as something truly external. Dexter has always talked of his Dark Passenger but in this book he meets a bigger, nastier evil which gets its own PoV passages in a manner that indicates that the author expects us to take on that this is a real disembodied intelligence with the ability to possess otherwise innocent people.

Dexter turns from being a psychotic vigilante to a supernatural investigator and ends up taking on a god in a climax that really doesn't fit well with the rest of the series to date.

Oh dear...doesn't do Dexter justice Jeff
All I have to say has been said in other reviews, particularly about the author cashing in on the success of the series and previous books, but not really having any idea were to go. Dexter in the Dark changes genres from the first two books with appalling results. As a previous reviewer said, you can't say too much without giving away the plot, but what the author has done has removed all the uniqueness from Dexter, and made him an ordinary person facing an unusual situation. Dexter loses his charm, wit, and character and becomes boring.
I've given three stars because the book was an average supernatural thriller;as one in the Dexter series though it should be given a miss.
I love both the tv series, and the first two books, they compliment each other really well, even though the tv series differs in major plot lines from the books. This third book should be given a miss by anyone who likes the first two books or the series.