IGX

After watching a few shows of Dexter on Showtime and falling in love with the show, a buddy lent me the 2 books the charcter is from.
GREAT READS and FAST!

He is a serial killer who has a code, he only kills other killers and evil bastards.
He is also a Blood spatter exp. for Metro Dade.
A unique character to be sure.

how are they compared to the show? I love the show.

Good, very Good.
Some plot twist from the show are better, in that "What the?" kind of way, but the book gets into his head, and that's where the best lines come from.
He is a complete socialpath, and Nihlist, has 0 feelings for most people, but he always ends up having to do the nice guy thing or the right thing, so to speak.
" Why am I out here trying to help Debbie's new boyfriend when I have a child molester to play with?"
Rita's son shows signs of being a killer in waiting, so Dexter see's him as a chance to pass on Harry's code. Rita is a disguise, but Dexter loves the kids.
Dexter is the shiznit, on TV and in print.

Dylan, do the books explain why Dexter chooses bad guys as his targets, when he is a sociopath & really shouldn't care?

Johno,

Yes they do, he has a code that was giving to him from his foster father, a cop who saw what he was going to grow into. So he tells the boy that there are people who deserve to die, and that good would be done by those deaths. He gives Dexter a Code to live by, and in exchange he teaches Dex about police work, how to cover your tracksm how to be an effective and disciplined killer.

I don't get Showtime, but based on your mention of it, I got the first "Dexter" book. Not bad at all...the prose is a little flat at times (you can just imagine what Clive Barker would do with the story line and situations) but there are enough hooks in the character's revelations to the reader to keep me involved. I'll probably go ahead and get the 2nd one if Estleman or Block or Parker doesn't come out with something soon.

One thing worries me: The title "theme". Look at this progression:

- "Darkly Dreaming Dexter"
- "Dearly Devoted Dexter"
- And the next one coming up is "Dexter In the Dark"
If this keeps up, inevitably we are going to get one called "Dexter Does Dallas". I don't think Western civilization is ready for that one yet.

DARTH wrote:After watching a few shows of Dexter on Showtime and falling in love with the show, a buddy lent me the 2 books the charcter is from. GREAT READS and FAST!

I'm a little late on this one, but I just wanted to chime in... I read the books a year or so ago, then heard about the show... Really love the show -- the old cliche that it's never as good as the book held true for me, but that's becaus I read the books first.

Perhaps the show will inspire some righteous vigilante justice...

Abandoned by Wolves wrote:If this keeps up, inevitably we are going to get one called "Dexter Does Dallas"

Nice.

I rented the first season via Netflix awhile back and loved it. I'm watching season 2 and I think it's even better.

I'll have to pick up the books soon.