Dexter in the Dark

by: Jeff Lindsay

Published by: Vintage Books/Black Lizard

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

This darkly funny book is the third Dexter book. Written by Jeff Lindsay, it features the serial killer/blood spatter expert Dexter. Dexter finds killers and dispatches them according to the ‘Harry Code,” but this time Dexter is the prey. Somehow he has come to the notice of an evil that makes his Dark Passenger flee in fear. Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he doesn’t like it.

Add a looming wedding, a tyrannical caterer and his soon-to-be step children who want to learn the ropes of being serial killers from Dexter–and his life is overwhelmingly full. As his life falls apart, Dexter muses about whether this is the lot of all humans. Though he describes himself as an artificial human, in this novel he becomes more and more real, much to his despair.

I found most of the characters interesting, especially the would-be killer children. There were a couple of appearances by Sergeant Doakes that didn’t add much to the book unless you are familiar with him and the relationship between Doakes and Dexter from the previous novels. This is the only weakness in Dexter in the Dark –if you haven’t read the previous books some of the situations and dialog will leave you in the Dark. I found that the Dark Passenger left so early in the story that I didn’t have any idea of what the normal interaction between it and Dexter was, so I didn’t really know what he was missing.

So my suggestion is this. Go and read the first two books, then come back and thoroughly enjoy this twisted tale of the likable serial killer named Dexter.

Armchair Interviews agrees: Best read in order in this well-done series.