85. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay (Mystery, Suspense) 292 p.
In this sequel to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dexter’s life is more complicated than ever, with Sergeant Doakes interfering in his playtime, his girlfriend Rita and her children commanding a certain portion of his attention, and his sister Deborah demanding his help catching the new bad guy in town.
Once again, Jeff Lindsay has done a masterful job with Dexter’s characterization. I continue to marvel at his skill in creating a creature like Dexter, who nonetheless manages to be interesting and even somewhat sympathetic. I especially like the development of Cody’s character, which was not-too-unsubtly telegraphed in the first book. I still think Darkly Dreaming Dexter would have been a more powerful story if it had come later in the series, after we’d already met Dexter; it was a wasted opportunity to reveal so much of Dexter’s past in the first book.
Other than that fairly minor quibble, the Dexter Morgan series is shaping up to be pretty fantastic.
Books read: 85/100 (85%)
Pages read: 25,627/30,000 (85%)
