DELVING DEEPLY INTO DEXTER'S DISTURBED ID

I "discovered" Jeff Lindsay's "Dexter" series very recently. I first heard a nice NPR review of the Showtime series now being shown in a slightly sanitized version on CBS. After watching each episode this past several weeks, I decided to go to the "source" material for the series, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter."

Jeff Lindsay is the pen name for Jeffrey P. Freundlich. "Darkly Dreaming" is the first Dexter book in a series which will reach four in September of this year. Lindsay wrote or co-wrote 5 books before the "Dexter" series. He's married to the niece of Ernest Hemingway, Hilary Hemingway.

Lindsay has an interesting relationship with the Showtime network. He has given the network a "free rein" to change the storyline on the television series. Nevertheless, the show is very similar to the book and Lindsay approves of the show, and its stellar cast (especially Michael Hall).

THE PLOT

Quite simply put, Dexter Morgan is a serial killer of serial killers. How does he know that he is killing serial killers? Well, he works for the Miami Police Department as a blood splatter expert. Those killers who somehow escape the punishment by the judicial system are the targets Dexter deftly deals with.

Dexter tells us his story in the first person. What we find out early is that Dexter really does not have a conscience. He is incapable of loving or hating. Something happened to him when he was very young that destroyed his emotional capacity to "feel" as most humans do. What happened to him is not explained until late in the book but we find out that Dexter was adopted by a Miami policeman named Harry Morgan.

Harry is a good father who realizes that Dexter is different and deadly. It is Harry who gives Dexter the idea to "only kill bad people."

We only meet Harry in flashbacks. The main storyline for the book has to do with a serial killer known as the "Ice Truck Killer." The main characters besides Dexter in the book are Deborah Morgan, Dexter's younger sister, who is a young vice cop who wants to be a detective; Dexter's "girlfriend" Rita, and a number of cops on the Miami Police force.

While the bulk of the book concerns the Ice Truck killer, Dexter also deviates occasionally to satisfy his inner "Dark Passenger" by eliminating some deserving folks.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE BOOK

I really like a blurb on the back of the paperback by "Entertainly Weekly":

"Maybe the first serial killer who unabashedly solicits our love."

How true. Now, as a criminal defense lawyer who also prosecuted for four years, I'm against vigilante "justice." So, the premise of the Dexter character should disgust me. But, Lindsay is such an excellent writer that I did find myself "rooting" for Dexter. Lindsay uses alliteration frequently in describing Dexter (something that is catching) and he also writes with a sharp biting sarcasm such as:

"Another huge new development was going up to improve life for all of us by turning trees and animals into cement and old people from New Jersey."

While Lindsay uses humor and irony effectively, he also is capable of "dreaming" up some truly dark or sick situations. His descriptions of what happens to victims in the case are indeed disturbing, to say the least. However, this brings a realistic twist to the book because, unfortunately, their are killers like this "out there."

I personally think Dexter is one of the most fascinating fictional characters I've ever "met." Because of the first person narrative, we share the feelings (or lack there of), the heartbreak of not being able to love, and the mystery of why Dexter is so different.

The book is not for everybody, just as the television series isn't. The violence is graphic and sometimes quite disgusting. But, I find the book extremely well written and plan to read the rest of the series.

FIVE STARS