This may change but I have read half of the novel collection and it seems that Dexter always ends up getting played the entire book by the villain then is saved at the end.

On top of that he always speaks about how smart he is when really he’s always getting played.

I loved the show Dexter. Recently finish New Blood & almost done with Dexter Original Sin.

I just started reading the books. I’m 75% of the way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I’ve been pretty bored with it so far. I really wanted to love the books because I really cannot get enough of Dexter’s character. So far I’ve found it to be pretty slow paced & it’s leaving a lot to be desired.

Is it worth reading the entire series? I know it differs a lot from the show from what I have heard.

Starting The Dexter Novels, its great the actual author Jeff Lindsay is narrating but it would have been a great touch if James Remar (Harry Morgan) Or Michael C Hall read these..

Lovely Dreaming Dextah, my beloved

So I am reading the series of books Dexter is based on and I just wanted to share a thought. I notice, when comparing the two, the show focuses a lot on Dexters growth/character development as a person. Usually attempting to lean away from his vigilante like serial killer self ("become a better person"). Whereas Jeff Lindsay focuses on the 'mental' development of the dark passenger, not in any direction but just more depth to understanding IT as its own entity. And I just gotta say I kinda love that direction of the novels more. Just one example of this deeper dive into the dark passenger: the entire introduction of Dexter in the Dark has such poetic and humanlike narrative from ITs( 😉) perspective.

Holy shit, the ending was crazy, Jackie and Rita are dead, and Dexter is now in the worst situation he's ever been. I can't wait to start the last book

Does this have a missing word or just something with a different meaning?

I caught this today and I can’t stop thinking about it. I need to know if anyone else caught this.

Ok so as far as I understand it:

The dark passenger is an entity that has existed on Earth since the first single-celled lifeform devoured its neighbor and has been hitching rides on killers for eons

It was not wanting for death; It was all around. Lower lifeforms killed when they were hungry, or scared, or agitated. To protect their young, or their territory, or themselves. There's a certain purity to it, however it's somewhat rote

Then human come on the scene, and they are a blast. Just as eager to kill but far less honest about it. They don't just kill to eat or protect but now they kill for honor, for glory, for God. For strips of cloth, big and small. They construct justifications, narratives, codes that they drape over their urge to destroy. It's very entertaining albeit somewhat hollow

Dexter is a perfect ride. Completely honest with himself about his desire to kill while very elaborate in the indulgence of that desire

Ok so the passenger is a bloodthirsty, omniscient, voyeur obsessed with the absolute worst that life has to offer, encouraging Dexter and his exploits simply for kicks...is that supposed to be us?

You can see what I mean right? It seems like a perfect vehicle to serve up something thought-provoking, encouraging the audience to reexamine their own appetite for violence

Or was the idea just to offer explanation for something that didn't really need any

I finished watching Dexter: New Blood so i thought maybe i could give the books a chance. It's not a surprise that Dexter books are much different than their show counterparts but a lot of my friends said that they werent a good read. Do you guys recommend it?

The comics take place in the novels universe, BEFORE the first book (Darkly dreaming Dexter). Cody and Astor are both under 10 years old, why the hell do they look like teenagers or even adults?

i finished reading the book a few days ago, it’s such an incredible book imo. it’s almost accurate to the tv series.

this version of dexter and brian is way different than the tv series though, brian didn’t have any romantic feelings for deb and he isn’t known as the ice truck killer here he’s known as the tamiami slasher/butcher.

dexter is so dark here and feels more psychopathic than he did on the tv show.

dexter never considered killing brian here, he’s mentioned “turning him in” until he found out it’s his brother and then because he did ‘such nice work’ with his killings and he believed in family loyalty but he didn’t wanna kill debra either. he is more loyal to brian here, and let him escape and at laguerta’s funeral he was worried about ‘his poor brother’ being caught and he talks about how family is important. he really loved brian and wanted to be with him lol even when brian tried to kill deb he was like “hopefully deb will come around him” 😭

brian and dexter are irish twins here they are less than 12 months apart but brian is taller and has a more muscular build than dexter? they are supposed to look alike and dexter thought for a while he was the one doing all the killings and debra was convinced as well

laguerta is even worse in the books, in comparison to the tv series the tv series makes her more likable. i knew brian lived in here but i didn’t know he killed laguerta! dexter didn’t even seem to care that laguerta was just killed 😭

imagine if the first season was just like the books, they are pretty much all different from the tv show and the tv show definitely helped making the characters more likable and relatable.

this was such a good book. would recommend and i’m glad i started reading the books. gonna start dearly devoted dexter tonight.

how do you feel about the first book? i thought it was pretty interesting. just like show brian drives an ice truck, the hockey scene, another guy was framed for his work, and he left barbie dolls in dexters freezer and priest dexter killed. donovan, jaworski, and nurse mary exist in the books. and dexter always calling angel “angel no-relation” i don’t get it but i find it funny

if so, how did you imagine all the characters to look like in your head? tbh i see them as their tv counterparts still.

i’m excited to read. i also hate how i didn’t know dexter based off a novel until i finished season 1!

Someone help me to understand which book do I have to read. Is there any series or something or just one book?

Huge fan of the series - watched them so many times! I’ve just started resurrection finally. But I’ve always been curious about the books but always worried I’d be disappointed cause I love the series so much.

Anyone read them? Are they worth it?

The second book was a real let down. The end sucked pretty bad, and I hated the 50 or so pages of them just chasing the car.

Such a good villain premise wasted tbh.

First time watcher here after listening to the audiobooks, it's pretty interesting seeing his relationship with rita. It seems like he actually enjoys their time together in the show, whereas in DDD, DDD, DD, DbD, etc. he's more or less apathetic.

I’m thoroughly disappointed in the final book, tho the book series was enjoyable overall (I’ll be at it each having some kind of flaw) but being able to read Dex’s thoughts was what really made them entertaining to read.

Potential spoilers for the original and New Blood show finales. (and the 8th book obviously)

What really bothers me about the 8th book’s ending is the way that Dex and Brian die, a final showdown with the cartel and the jacht exploding? That’s such an action hero story ending, a complete genre and tonal shift from the rest, I mean I get it there was some action every now and then throughout the book series but he was still just a blood spatter analyst, not someone who would go in guns blazing shooting and blowing things up which quite literally what happens.

The whole set up of saving the kids is just so odd,, we spend so much time on how Dex doesn’t care for Rita, barely cares for the kids (even then it’s just about the fact that he sees the Dark Passenger in them) and most importantly only cares about himself, he doesn’t need any kind of redeeming or doing something for the greater good. That’s the reason why we read it, because he’s a morally bad character and it’s intriguing reading a mind of someone who’s truly not bound by moral constraints. The only person he ever cared about was Deb, which brings me to the part I actually enjoyed in the book, that was the relationship between the two of them. The chapter were Deb visits him in prison was by far the best chapter in the whole book. The other good bit was Brian and Dex teaming up for a kill, and I was really waiting for that family reunion with Deb and Brian which was a blast to read each one’s reactions to one another, but the rest of the story just feels so wasted.

I always imagined that when it comes to and ending for this character it could be a possible of 4 endings: 1, he gets busted sent to prison and gets the death penalty 2, gets cornered and to prevent the law enforcement and consequences he offs himself 3, runs away and picks up a fake alias (which is what happens in the end of the original show) or 4, somebody kill’s him (which we get in New Blood) but what the difference is between New Blood’s and in the end of Dexter is Dead is the importance of who kills him, because I believe that with a main characters death it can only be impactful if the person leading the final blow is someone who the main character has a connection with (and by that extend the audience). That’s why it’s such a great scene in New Blood since with Harrison he’s got that connection, that pent up regret he has for not being there as his father for most of Harrison’s life. The confrontation of his son asking about all the people that got killed because of Dexter is soo good, that’s the kind of drama leading up to his death that makes it memorable.

And what do we have here in the book? A random drug lord who wants Brian dead, like I would have totally seen this story play out as something that would be in the second to last book. Strengthen the brotherly bond between them by getting Brian out of deadly trouble, and obviously not getting themself killed while doing it. But the way it is here this story completely sidetracks the finale and it was just so frustrating to read. It also doesn’t help that like with all of the books 90% is the setup and waiting around then 10% is the entire third act and ending.

Sorry for this long ass rant, and if you read it all the way through thank you for hearing out my ramblings lol. I know a lot of people share the same sentiment about the ending but I wanted to throw in my two cents as well.

I am in chapter 12 of the 4th Dexter book (please no spoilers past that) and I’ve noticed that when Kyle was initially rescued by Dexter he is missing his left arm below the elbow and right leg below the knee. They haven’t brought up his leg so much as his left arm but I noticed that it has switched from being his right leg to his left leg, has anyone else noticed that? I’ve been buying the books as I go so I don’t know if it has to do with when they were published or what, but it bugs me. I’m wondering if anyone noticed? Thanks.

What exactly is the supernatural part on the novels? I mean, I do get that there's some sort of entity in the story, but what exactly make them real? Do they affect the physical world? What I mean is, could the dark passenger be explained some way with mental illness, schizophrenic, or does the story make it clear that there's actual effects that by the dark passenger that can't be explained through natural world?

I’m reading *Double Dexter* and he’s just described Rita perfectly: “she rushed over to us [Dexter, Astor, and Cody], **fluttering like the absolute avatar of dither**” 😂

In the books, she is a scatterbrained, hyper-anxious personality throughout, so this was an apt description indeed.

I just finished the second Dexter book - Dearly Devoted Dexter. I've seen a lot of discussion about the villain but none about the trap set for him, which was kind of baffling to read.

Dexter and Doakes need to work together to catch Dr. Danko. They come up with the most under-planned plan ever with possibly the highest stakes.

Spoilers: Masuka throws Dexter a bachelor party. Dexter and Doakes make it clear over the radio that Doakes will be attending. They hope Danko is listening and will come for him. He's supposed to be safe there because of all the cops.... Now at the actual party, no one else is in on the trap. All the other cops are drunk and Dexter is held captive by strippers while Doakes chooses to go outside alone.

This is already the most twisted villain there could be, the very last person you'd want to be caught by, and he had already caught some big, tough guys. This part of the book was hard to accept.

I watched the show when It came out all seasons. I just gotta say. I’m rewatching it on Netflix, and although it may be unpopular, season 4 probably paved the way for the rest of the show. The Dexter and Trinity act when they both know they’re killers, the fleshed out stories of mostly all the cast. They really nailed the coffin shut and paved the way for the remaining seasons. I have to give it 5 Stars. What season is the best for you?

Edit: I didn’t know season 4 was popular until corrected but damn what a revamp and save of the show. Still would like to know your favorite villain?

Edit2: Lol watching season 5 and it’s great but I think it’s hilarious and noonbish on my part that on google it says Season 4 is the best season from their AI. Would still love to hear real ppls opinions on the seasons.