Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Carol Memmot

Lindsay's tale is daring and unexpectedly comedic. The writing is lively and the plot steps away from the common ground in which many thrillers are rooted. When it comes to light, the tragic incident in Dexter's past rolls over us like a nightmare from which we can't wake up.
— USA Today

Marilyn Stasio

The plot has some nice twists, and the Miami setting contributes its own eccentric flavor. But the real appeal of this macabre tour-de-force is Dexter's sardonic voice, so snappy and smart, and yet so full of self-loathing that we hate ourselves for laughing.
— The New York Times

The New Yorker

Dexter Morgan, the namesake of Lindsay’s first novel, is one of the most likable vigilante serial killers in recent thriller literature. This is mainly because of his average Joe-ness: he’s a Miami police-department blood-spatter analyst with a weakness for bowling shirts and batidos, who, when the moon is full, carves up villains in a careful ritual, keeping a single drop of blood on a slide as a souvenir. (He’s collected thirty-six so far.) When other victims start popping up, dispatched with the same creativity as Dexter’s, he pursues the copycat murderer with acute professional self-interest. Like other charismatic killers—Hannibal Lecter, say, or Tom Ripley—Dexter has a set of motives that are tough to untangle. But his quest proves weirdly convincing as he ponders whether to turn his doppelgänger over to the cops or take care of the problem himself.

Publishers Weekly

Miami blood spatter specialist Dexter Morgan is not your average monster. He occasionally gives in to the impulse to kill in order to satisfy the Dark Passenger inside his brain, but he's much more well-adjusted than the label "serial killer" implies. He has a girlfriend, a sense of humor and, thanks to the loving tutelage of his cop foster father, he dismembers only other serial killers. But his self-control is sorely tested when he agrees to help his sister, a vice cop, solve a string of murders so bizarre, and yet so familiar, that he seriously starts to wonder if he is committing them in his sleep. Voiceover artist Landrum does a superb job conveying Dexter's witty first-person narration; he seems to embody "quirky, funny, happy-go-lucky, dead-inside Dexter." With his nimble vocal chords, he also has no trouble giving voice to the story's female characters and affecting an authentic-sounding Cuban accent for the incompetent homicide detective assigned to the case. Perhaps Landrum's finest feat, however, is the chill-inducing voice he adopts for Dexter's Dark Passenger, which underscores Dexter's transformations from charming neighborhood killer into inhuman predator. Refreshingly original and expertly narrated, this audiobook should be required listening for all thriller aficionados. Simultaneous release with the Doubleday hardcover (Forecasts, Apr. 19). (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Dorothy Parker once wrote, "If I had a shiny gun/ I could have a world of fun/ Speeding bullets through the brains/ Of the folks that cause me pains." If that make you grin, you'll love Lindsay's new twist on the slasher novel. Dexter Morgan is a blood-spatter expert for the Miami Police with an uncanny knack for criminal profiling. Is he tormented by some dark affinity with the evil that men do? Not a bit. He's a very accomplished serial killer himself. Dexter's pragmatic foster dad recognized the boy's homicidal tendencies and channeled them toward a cautious and constructive vigilantism. Helping solve crimes by day and tidily filleting the worst kind of predators by moonlight, our friendly neighborhood sociopath is doing well until a new killer, who has perfected Dexter's modus operandi, surfaces. Dexter finds his carefully balanced double life rocked by strange new feelings of rivalry and kinship. With his charming, morbid wit and compelling candor, Dexter is a less pompous Lestat. Indeed, Lindsay brings the same refreshing ebullience to serial killers that Anne Rice once brought to vampires. A macabre gem that will appeal to more than just the Thomas Harris crowd; highly recommended.-David Wright, Seattle P.L. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A witty, grisly debut about the secret adventures of a Florida sociopath who murders only bad guys. Dexter Morgan makes his living off the blood of the dead-literally. A "blood-splatter analyst" for the Miami Police Department, Dexter works only on the messiest cases, nearly all homicides and quite a few the work of serial killers. It takes one to know one, too, for Dexter has a very deep and well-guarded secret: He's been bumping people off for years. Dexter knew from an early age that he was somehow different, and his father, Detective Harry Morgan, had picked up enough abnormal psychology on the job to recognize the signs. Harry tried to help Dexter out by suggesting that the boy might want to make a virtue of necessity by concentrating his murderous energies on the truly wicked people of the world-and Dexter agreed, beginning with the hospice nurse who was systematically overdosing Harry with morphine. From that day forward, Dexter (and his ghostly imaginary friend, the Dark Passenger) have done well by doing bad, disposing of a long line of pedophiles, killers, sadists, and thugs. A consummate professional, Dexter has never left a shred of incriminating evidence behind, but lately he's begun to worry. A copycat killer is on the loose, leaving a string of victims strewn about the dark byways of Miami bearing the trademarks of Dexter's handiwork in an obvious attempt to lure him out of hiding. Dexter can play his hand close to his chest, but unfortunately for him one of the cops assigned to the new cases is his sister Deborah, who knows nothing of Dexter's extracurricular activities. Part of Dexter wants to come of the cold and play with this new guy on the block, but he feels anobligation to keep his sister from being implicated. It's not just thieves, after all: There's honor among murderers, too. Cheap fun: a guilty pleasure few monster-addicts will be able to resist. Agency: Sanford J. Greenburger Associates