"If it had been me..." 454 Pageviews...

*Darkly Dreaming Dexter, $22.95, deftly documented by *Jeff Lindsay -- is the best hardback I've read this year! In fact, I think it's the best debut book I've read since 1985, when I found Jonathan Kellerman's *When The Bough Breaks upon the shelves of the then new Muscogee County Library. Lindsay's greatest strength as a writer? Hands down, it's the witty narrative. His paragraphs molder with a certain type of anticipation, a bubbling froth of things that are dark and dreadful, screaming in a murky corner of your id. The novel glitters with glib humor. At times it even crackles with originality. The tome showcases the career of charismatic *Miami blood-spatter analyst Dexter Morgan. Dexter is, in literature, what they call an anti-hero. He's a protagonist that lacks virtue, lacks good moral qualities, lacks even any notion that he's human -- but he does possess charm, persuasiveness, a regular job and an honest to goodness girlfriend.

Dexter is a wolf in sheep's clothing - a polite serial killer - and he also happens to work for the *Miami police department, where he lurches and manuevers behind the scenes almost completely undetected. One or two people in Lindsay's Miami know something isn't right with Dexter, but they can't exactly put their finger on what that is. The basic premise of Darkly Dreaming Dexter may be abhorrent to many readers, but Lindsay somehow manages to pull off a difficult task. As a character, Dexter audaciously trumps J.P. Keller, the cool but callous hit man found in the crime writing of *Lawrence Block. And as a protagonist, Morgan is even more heinous, more memorable and suavely stalwart than even Hannibal Lecter, the *Thomas K. Harris creation.

Dexter will most likely fuel a series of blockbuster books, you can be assured of that. When *Doubleday published this novel, they effectively put several authors on notice. You better up your game! If I were a *Michael Connelly, a *Jonathan Kellerman, a *Dean Koontz, a *James Patterson, a *Stephen White or any other well-known writer of crime, mystery, or suspense fiction -- I would be fuming with envy. I might even start swearing, because Lindsay is that formidable a talent.

Starting off, Dexter is called to the scene of a bloodless kill by his sister Deborah -- a Miami Vice cop -- who just happened to be on a nearby sting when the body was discovered. Deborah called him chiefly because she wants in on the action. She senses an opportunity to get out of Vice and move over to the Homicide squad, but she'll need Dex's help, because she doesn't have any real instinct for what the job demands. Dexter believes the body is one in a series - tied to a perp that's since been tagged The Tamiami Slasher. The crime is especially perplexing to Dexter. Mainly as in, how was that done? And Dexter is certainly jealous of the killers trade craft. While desiring to solve the crime, Dexter silently wonders if he should hunt down and dispatch the killer himself, with his own unique brand of justice. Yes, Dexter is a certifiable loon and a bundle of nerves for great swaths of the book, but it's amusing being inside his head.

Solving the crime is a given, and by the time the book reaches its colorful climax, we've come to know Dexter and his macabre sense of humor quite well. During the course of Deb and Dexter's solving of the murder spree, they encounter resistance from Homicide Detective Migdia LaGuerta and Squad Sergeant Doakes, a duo that have a vested interest in protecting their careers, and whom both enjoy facing off with Deb, and bringing Dexter to the brink of a near nervous breakdown. In the end, however, one of the opposing foils in this duo meet their unmaker, receive their just desserts as the saying goes, and the survivor lives to fight another day. And while solving the Tamiami Slasher case, Dexter hones his sense of self awareness, discovers real emotions, polishes up on his office politics, and more sharply develops his sense of "Vigilanteism" because of the predicaments he's being placed in. Also, because Dex is pursuing a more skillful killer, and because he must avoid detection of his own crimes, while the women in his life, like Rita, are trying to trip him up, Dexter faces a great internal struggle. Poor Poor Dexter, the best-dressed Monster in all of Dade County. I don't think he expected what he found at the Miami dockside, but he does save his sister. As far as I'm concerned -- *Darkly Dreaming Dexter then comes to a rather rousing and tidy conclusion. And I don't think Lindsay telegraphs the ending of the book either.

So I'd say -- aside from Lindsay's penchant for alliteration -- the cryptic tilt of the scene setting first chapter, and an overabundance of great narration, I could find no documentable dings in *Darkly Dreaming Dexter. But I did wonder if Dexter drove a Dodge Durango. Each character in Lindsay's book is entirely plausible. The characters behave as they would in real life. They utter phrases you suspect they might actually say. They don't do anything that goes against type for the character. However, if I could offer only one piece of advice to Jeff, I would say simply, "work on variety in the way you attribute the dialogue." Now there's an opportunity.

Lindsay makes interesting choices, as an author, in *Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I highly recommended this volume, but I can't figure out why Doubleday failed to market it as a genre book. Lindsay is masterful, in the way that he weaves *Miami into the background. And like *Lawrence Block, he possesses an unnaturally keen gift for making unlikable characters completely palatable. He also has Block's same knack for selecting suitable names for his characters, that are appropriate given the setting. He's wise enough to give every character a dilemma. He has no trouble juggling a large number of characters in the book. And he also blends Spanish into the novel, for true authenticity and to great effect. Certain elements of Darkly Dreaming remind me of two films about serial killers: Frailty and Se7en. Two thumbs way up for *Darkly Dreaming Dexter, a work that eschews conventional formulas. As an aside, I think the cover art on the hardcover works, but I prefer the cover art that they're going to use for the paperback. Since paperbacks are released earlier in the UK than in the US, you can find the alternate cover art on the listing for this title at amazon.com.uk.

Lastly, I'd like to say that I chatted up Jeff at the *Gateway store earlier this year, before it was shut down. I just had to speak to him, because he was wearing such an attention-getting black tee with a large skull and crossbones on the front. Additionally, the words "Metro Dade" were emblazoned in an arc above the red and yellow skull, while below the colorful visage, in larger letters, the shirt riding over his gut gleefully declared "Homicide." In fact, that's the same shirt that Jeff sports on the novel's black and white photo on the inside flap. When I asked what his name was, and he told me, I thought it sounded mighty familiar. But I couldn't immediately place it. All I could do was smile and offer my card.

Let's just say that since that chance encounter, I've been trying to ferret out where I knew him from. I've mulled it over extensively since purchasing this novel. And now, I might be wrong, but I have no trouble in saying that I'm firmly convinced that I knew Jeff Lindsay, his brother and family, about 25 or 26 years ago. We may have attended the same grade school or junior high in *Longwood or *Crestview, near *Eglin Air Force Base, and we may even have possibly lived in the same housing area, Poquito Bayou, in the *Florida panhandle. There may be a miniscule chance that I've gotten him confused with three other families that had phonetically similar "sound alike" names -- either the Lindens, the Lindermans, or the Lindmans -- but I do believe that I am correct. And if I'm right, we both have brothers named Robert. I'll have to make it a point to inquire of the author sometime...


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The Book:
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Doubleday Hardcover 2004

Pages:
288 Pages
27 Numbered Chapters with Epilogue

Rating:
5 Stars

Visit the Official Websites:
www.doubleday.com

Recommended
Yes

Casting Suggestions:
Angel-no-relation/Rafael Calvo
Brian/Paul Bettany
Camilla Figg/Lisa Kudrow
Capt. Matthews/Vin Diesel
Capt. Moon/James Rebhorn
Daryll Earl McHale/Ryan Phillippe
Deborah Morgan/Neve Campbell
Det. LaGuerta/Jennifer Lopez
Det. McClellan/Sean Patrick Flanery
Dexter Morgan/Jude Law
Eric the Viking/Donal Logue
Father Donovan/Gene Hackman
Harry Morgan/Brian Cox
Jamie Jaworski/Johnnie Depp
Last Nurse/Christina Applegate
Rita/Naomi Watts
Sergeant Doakes/Derek Luke
Steban Rodriguez/Luis Guzman
The Dark Passenger/Jim Carrey
Vince Masuoka/Daniel Dae Kim

Related Reviews:
damieng's Review of DDDexterbarongreenback's Review of DDDexter