350 pagesThis is the fifth and most recent Dexter novel. In case you've never seen the Showtime TV series "Dexter" or read my review of the fourth book, I'll summarize: Dexter Morgan is a psychopath with a compulsion for killing people, but his late father taught him to only kill criminals who have escaped justice. The stories are told from Dexter's perspective. He's completely self-aware of the fact that he's "a monster with no soul," but he's studied human behavior for so long that he blends in perfectly. In "Dexter is Delicious," Dexter becomes a father and it totally shakes his world up. For the first time, he finds himself feeling love and other emotions--almost becoming human! He decides to stop secretly killing people and focus on his family. But, of course, it's not that easy. First, his long-lost brother, Brian, shows up and is suddenly interested in being part of Dexter's family, which doesn't seem too bad until you consider that Brian is also a psychopath and the last time they saw each other, Brian tried to convince Dexter to kill his adopted sister, Deborah. Then, as if Brian's reappearance isn't enough, Dexter and Deborah (a blood-splatter analyst and a cop, respectively) start investigating a series of disappearances that seemed to be linked to a group of cannibals. Dexter discovers that even when he tries to leave his life of crime behind, it seems to find him nonetheless.
I enjoyed seeing this new side to Dexter and watching him become more human. I didn't expect it at this point in the series; as I read the first few books, I thought something might come along to give him feelings and emotions, but had given up on that by the fifth book. I also enjoyed the mystery part of this story. I really got sucked into the cannibals storyline as well as Brian's return, as I suspected that they had something to do with each other but I couldn't figure out how. There's a nice twist at the end, which I always enjoy, and plenty of the dark humor that Dexter fans love.
Nom, nom, nom! I've been waiting for you to get to this one. I found myself annoyed with his new found emotions. Can a sociopath really gain feelings just because he has a child? I was all kinds of conflicted.
ReplyDeleteAnd Brian? I've been waiting for his return but I was disappointed. He was "funny uncle" creepy not scary. :)
I liked his change of heart! I mean, it will be bad if he totally reforms his ways because his psycho-ness is the point, but adding a few feelings was interesting to me. As you indicate, it probably isn't realistic, but that didn't bother me so much.
ReplyDeleteI'm still not convinced that Brian isn't up to something. I think we might see some scary stuff from him in future books. I can't imagine someone as crazy as him becoming "normal" out of the blue. He didn't have stabilizing people in his life like Dexter did (his adopted parents) nor a life-changing event (like Dexter's daughter being born), so it seems unlikely that he's really different. We'll see!