#5 Platform - Dearly Devoted Dexter

Some ideas do get better the second time around.

Book #33: Dearly Devoted Dexter
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Provenance: Bought off Amazon.ca using a giftcard from timingspoons

After reading the first book in this series last month, I figured I might as well come back and read the newer one. The basic setup is the same: you have Dexter, our serial killer narrator, only operating on those who slipped through the justice system cracks; his sister, a hard-bitten cop on the force; a police-side antagonist, making it harder for Dexter to get done what he wants; and another killer, even more unspeakable than our hero, who Dexter and the police try to track down.

Really, the main differences are in the details. We get more of Dexter's non-murderous life with his girlfriend and her kids, and it works well. It also provides what I felt to be the funniest moment in the book, and also the one that's the creepiest (and that's saying something). Also, if the main character types are the same, the characters themselves are a bit better. Dexter is more interesting in this one, I think, and the police antagonist, Doakes, is much more interesting than the one from the last book, who was consistantly portrayed as a bit dim. On the other hand, I liked Deborah, the sister, less here, and the murderer is less interesting, in a sense.

Still, the plot is good, and the writing is very good; Dexter's narration and the style of it is quite interesting, and he's a compelling character. The dialogue isn't always great, but the internal monologue usually is. And since that's the bulk of the book, it carries the day. I'll look into the next one... probably in paperback, which'll leave about a year or so between me and it, but I'll still look into it.

Next up: A Hero of Our Time. And that time would be 19th century in the Caucasus... or three years ago.