Tangled Web UK Review October 2007
Dexter In The Dark by
Jeff Lindsay
hbk out October 07
Published by Orion
at £9.99
Jeff Lindsay's latest novel, Dexter In The Dark, throws fresh light onto why Dexter Morgan is
what he is, he created a barrel full of monkeys with Debs, Cody, Astor, Rita and Doakes all
contributing to a scenario that cannot fail to entertain, even during darkest moments, which is all of
great credit to a young author who may lack subtlety at times, but who nonetheless knows how to tell a
bloody good story, bloodily and well.
Is evil alive? Dr Jerry Halpern is trying to find out, studying for his PhD on the subject. Dexter
Morgan, meanwhile, has a few wicked things of his own to contend with - not least, planning his
wedding to Rita to complete his nice-guy disguise.
But when a student of Halpern's is found burnt, molested and headless - seemingly sacrificed to an
ancient god - and Dex is brought in as forensic analyst to help investigate, he realises he could be
dealing with someone a whole lot more sinister than he is. Soon it seems the dark passenger in Dexter's
head has gone into hiding. And when something creeps out your friendly neighbourhood serial killer,
you know it's serious.
The thing to remember with Dexter Morgan is that – to put it scientifically – he's off his chump, as
mad as a box of frogs and as nutty as a bag of KP Cashews. So, when the idea of sacrifices to ancient
gods rears its head, Dexter latches on to it as though it is a lifeline – reason for his being – which he
just as easily demotes to the level of mumbo-jumbo he feels it deserves as the story evolves and all of
which is done with great style and humour.
Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan, blood spatter expert (I have it on sound authority it's "spatter" in
the US and "splatter" in the UK, by the way) with the Miami Police Department and serial killer, is
something of a conundrum. Should serial killers – whatever their motives – be portrayed as likeable,
not to say loveable, characters and should their quirky foibles be so attractive to TV viewers and book
readers?
Well, yes is the answer because what happens then is that we are given a premise so preposterous
it actually works on many levels, as can be seen with this, the third instalment.
(
Chris High
Chris High - Author Multi-media Promotion Service www.chrishigh.com)
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