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Cover of Dearly devoted Dexter

Dearly devoted Dexter

a novel

400 pages

A darkly hilarious, sun-drenched descent into the mind of a monster trying desperately to play house.

What it feels like

Reading this book feels like sharing a private, twisted joke with a charming sociopath. The narrative moves at a brisk, engaging clip, contrasting the sun-drenched, neon-lit backdrop of Miami with the pitch-black depths of the narrator's mind. You are trapped inside the protagonist's highly observant, sardonic inner monologue as he chafes against the suffocating boredom of forced domesticity. The prose is sharp, witty, and heavily stylized, dripping with alliteration and cynical observations about human behavior. It is a macabre, tense, yet surprisingly funny experience that balances gruesome crime-scene details with biting social satire. This will delight readers who love rooting for a charismatic antihero and do not mind a healthy splash of gore mixed in with their dark comedy.

Mood
  • macabre
  • sun-drenched
  • tense
  • unsettling
  • darkly playful
Tone
  • sardonic
  • darkly comedic
  • cynical
  • detached
  • wry
Pace
brisk
Themes
the mask of normalcy · monstrousness vs humanity · ethical boundaries · the burden of pretending · dark urges
The writing
Sharp, witty, and highly internal, characterized by an alliterative and sardonic inner voice.
The arc
Moves from the stifling frustration of forced domesticity to a thrilling, gruesome release of dark impulses.
Who it's for
Fans of charismatic antiheroes and dark comedy who enjoy a blend of gruesome crime and biting social satire.
Content notes
  • graphic violence
  • gore
  • torture
  • murder
  • psychopathy

About the book

He's a charming monster... A macabre hero... A serial killer who only kills bad peopleDexter Morgan has been under considerable pressure. It's just not easy being an ethical serial killer--especially while trying to avoid the unshakable suspicions of the dangerous Sergeant Doakes (who believes Dexter is a homicidal maniac... which, of course, he is). In an attempt to throw Doakes off his trail, Dexter has had to slip deep into his foolproof disguise. While not working as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, he now spends nearly all his time with his cheerful girlfriend, Rita, and her two children, sipping light beer and slowly becoming the world's first serial couch potato. But how long can Dexter play Kick the Can instead of Slice the Slasher? How long before his Dark Passenger forces him to drop the charade and let his inner monster run free?In trying times, opportunity knocks. A particularly nasty psychopath is cutting a trail through Miami--a man whose twisted technique leaves even Dexter speechless. As Dexter's dark appetite is revived, his sister, Deborah (a newly minted, tough-as-nails Miami detective) is drawn headlong into the case. It quickly becomes clear that it will take a monster to catch a monster--but it isn't until his archnemesis is abducted that Dex can finally throw himself into the search for a new plaything. Unless, of course, his plaything finds him first... With the incredible wit and freshness that drew widespread acclaim to Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay now takes Dexter Morgan to a new level of macabre appeal and gives us one of the most original, colorful narrators in years.

Description from Open Library.

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