Dexter: An Omnibus

Dexter #1-3

by Jeff Lindsay

From the most original crime writer around, the first three gripping Dexter novels.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter: Dexter Morgan can't stand the sight of blood. Which makes his job as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami PD a little tricky. But it means that he's very tidy when it comes to his hobby: murder. After all, even though Dexter only ever kills bad people, he doesn't want to draw attention to it. But now there's another killer out there who's being a whole lot less subtle...

Dearly Devoted Dexter: Miami's best-dressed serial killer is getting twitchy - he hasn't killed for months. Ever since their paths first crossed, Sergeant Doakes hasn't let Dexter Morgan out of his sight. Then a body turns up, mutilated and barely alive. To trap the torturer, Doakes and Dexter will have to work together, if they can trust each other. It's a devil's pact and one of them will have to be the bait.

Dexter in the Dark: When Dexter is brought in to analyse a charred headless cause, it seems he's dealing with a killer even more sinister than he is, and one with a personal interest in him. And with Dexter now having a family to protect, the stakes are high. As he realises his step-children might share his blood-lust, if he's ever to help them target it, Dexter will first have to stay alive himself.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Horror, Adult, Serial Killer

577 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2008

About the author

Jeff Lindsay lives in Florida with his wife, author Hilary Hemingway, daughter of Leicester Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's brother.

Lindsay is best known for writing the Dexter series of novels. Several of his earlier published works include his wife as a co-author.

Jeff graduated from Middlebury College, Vermont, in 1975, and Celebration Mime Theatre's Clown School the same year. He received a double MFA, in Directing and Playwriting, from Carnegie-Mellon University, and has written 25 produced plays. He has also worked as a musician, singer, comedian, actor, TV host, improv actor, and dishwasher.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic trilogy that had me gripping my seat with suspense despite having already seen the TV series, however, it fell flat with the 3rd book and the introduction of the Watcher and Moloch. I really enjoyed that Dexter is just your average guy that has a rather dark and dangerous hobby, he's quirky and demented but really very intriguing and intelligent. The reader feels as though Dexter is a superhero and will prevail in his mad quest to rid the earth of the truly nasty nasties. But then, the Watcher comes along and is introduced as having come from the primordial soup and survived through the centuries as the God Moloch-load of bubkus. I just found that came out of left field and not in keeping with the rest of the story. I kept hoping that he would uncover the nonsense and find a superior psychopath behind the whole story...never happened and I was so disappointed. I love the writing, the style, the character development, visual descriptions (short, well explained and to the point), and the plot development. However, I have to say that the TV series did much better with the ending than Mr. Lindsay and I was so saddened by the distraction of IT. I would absolutely NOT recommend the 3rd book in the series. Such potential gone to waste.

[Amanda Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the television show "Dexter" and also a huge fan of reading the book(s) of any movie or television show. When I started reading the "Dexter Omnibus", I was expected it to be a facsimile of the television show. After all, the show is fantastic!

The prose itself is stunning - and I'm impressed by how well the Dark Passenger and Harry's code have been carried into the TV show from the words Lindsay wrote. If I was the author, I'd be well stoked with the representation.

The reading of the novel is definitely informed by the show, even the third novel which is definitely different to and/or has not been covered by the plot so far. In fact, the divergence begins from the first book.

Mental images of characters are the same as the television show, except for Dexter himself and his sister, Deborah - these two are a mix between the actors who portray them and the description in the story.

Well worth reading both for the merits of the writing & for the enthusiasts out there.

[Glenn Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the idea of this story. A serial killer that we fall in love with! Nice writing style.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed the Dexter Omnibus. I had watched a little of the first couple of seasons of the TV series, so the events in the first story were familiar to me. I enjoyed Lindsay's first-person prose, which really made me relate to Dexter right from the start. By the third book, the plot was heading out of a standard crime-thriller to dip its toes into fantasy, but I didn't mind that and thought it worked well for that storyline. I have some other books to read now, but I probably will look to read more in the series in the future. Recommended if you like crime-thrillers on the darker and gorier side, as well as morally grey lead characters. It gets 4 stars from me.

[Wanda Hartzenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two is the worse book in the story and even that one gets a 4.

[Neal Asher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The language of the first page of this hauled me up, but I persevered and was soon in territory I recognized from the excellent TV series. I was a bit dubious about the somewhat camp depiction of Dexter and the emphasis on his 'Dark Passenger' which only kicked in in the TV series when he was pretending to have a drugs habit, both as an alibi with Rita and a way to put Doakes off the scent. I really enjoyed the first two books of this, noting the differences and being quite happy with them - there were quite simply things that happened in this only suitable an X classification and would have cut down on the success of the TV series. The last book I hated. Lindsay took Dexter's 'Dark Passenger' into supernatural territory, Dexter himself became a soppy ineffectual mess, and I felt it was wrong wrong wrong.

Thing is, whilst there were a couple of really enjoyable books here, and the idea of Dexter is all down to Lindsay, I find the TV series a lot better. I think that the TV version nailed the essence of it, of Dexter, which was in the first two books, and definitely not in the last one. You may think it odd me feeling that straying into fantastical territory was the wrong thing to do here, if you do, then go read my post about UFOs again.

[Dilina · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok.. i was honestly a bit disappointed. I'm a HUGE fan of the amazing TV adaptation and as is the case in general, expected something that would blow the TV show right out of the water. But while the first novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" was a 4/5 read, the next two were completely off in plot, pacing and characters. Very wooden and even cliched and cheesy. The writing tried its hardest but just couldn't bring out the great concepts that were presented.

Dexter remains an amazing concept and character which I highly recommend to anyone and which Jeff Lindsay should be proud of. But Dexter is far better served by the TV show than he ever seems to be in the books.

[Seawater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do enjoy the books even though I prefer the show. The third book was really, really bad though...

[Ian Heap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well... Omnibus edition, 3 books. Enjoyed all of them... my first time reading any of Mr Lindsay’s work. Having watched the TV series I was wondering how the books would compare. The usual issues of seeing a film depiction of a book you have read, but in reverse. I have to say the books are fantastic. The prose is great and I literally laughed out loud at some of the phrases Dexter came out with. The TV series did a pretty good job of getting the feel of the book and the character too. No spoilers but some characters have things happen to them in the book that don’t happen to them in the TV series... or they happen over a few episodes.
I am now on the look out for the others in the series!!
Does this mean I am now Desperately Desiring Dexter?

[AMY · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

This trilogy was such an impressive read! The trio dynamic was gripping, and Dexter’s sarcasm added the perfect layer of dark humour. I’ve always been intrigued by the Dexter TV series — being a huge fan of crime and drama — but never actually got around to watching it. After reading this, that’s definitely changing.

The only reason it’s not a full five stars is that it got a bit unrealistic at times — the way every criminal somehow ended up crossing paths with Dexter or Deborah felt a little too convenient. Still, a dark, addictive, and brilliantly twisted read!

[Sybiee Colvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Excellent start and really interesting introduction and highly enjoyable with a spectacular ending!

2. Even better - very exciting and a wonderful sequel with everything you need from the good book

3. Loved seeing the more family side and the growth that came with it. Completely different story line and a very fun mix up!

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this book... shows what the tv show creator was basing it off. Very well written

[z e e · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely prefer the TV show but I'll probably read the rest of the books because I just love dexter

[Ted Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic trilogy. Far darker, and better, than the tv series. A truly compelling character and the narrative is enthralling.

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooooo good!

[Dragan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well where do I begin with this? The first book is the best one of the three. From there it goes down hill and quite quick. The first one is interesting it keeps you guessing with what’s happening but it’s nothing memorable. The second book for me felt so distance, I felt like dexter himself because the author forces the reader to make you feel like Debra’s boyfriend is important but in reality his not. I really didn’t care if her boyfriend lived or not. Now the third book, good god!!!! It’s so random, I mean it totally goes off what dexter is suppose to be about. It’s rambles and rambles about dexters everyday life and it bored me so much. The ending was terrible, everything about this book feels so rushed and incomplete.

[spacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Darkly Dreaming Dexter’ is the first novel in the DEXTER series by Jeff Lindsay and just to get it out of the way, YES it is the one on which the television show is based.

Dexter Morgan is exceedingly average. Just a cheery, clever guy, who works in a lab who happens to kill people sometimes. Inexplicably driven to kill and exhibiting severe antisocial tendencies, Dexter tries to blend in and through the early coaching of his father Harry has even learned to somewhat productively channel his urges. A new, fantastic murderer, hitting prostitutes in Miami however gets under Dexter’s skin and his quest to find out who the artist is leads to unexpected, dark revelations about himself....


Find the rest of the review at this link:

http://metalrizon.wordpress.com/2013/...

[Adele]

I came to these books via the TV series. The TV series has managed to closely capture the characters as described in the books, while the books themselves will provide you with brand new Dexter stories (only the first one will seem familiar, but isn't identical to the show). He's witty, sick, twisted - yet I find myself rooting for him time & time again.

Only issue with this particular addition is that it's 3 books in one, so it's a BIG book, not one to slip into your bag, so this slowed down my reading, I wish I'd gotten the 3 books individually, I'd have devoured them much quicker then!

[♥Xeni♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the first three books in the series, I'd have to say the second was my favorite. I loved how at the end of the first the series started deviating from the TV show (LaGuerta dies, yay!!!!!)

The third book really bugged me.. marriage, strange kids, and then this weird cult thing, plus Dexter having issues with his Passenger? There the TV Show did a better job, although the show did get rather boring.

In general, I rated these books so highly because they are like nothing that has been written yet (well, nothing that I found, anyway). Most books are copies of other books, so this was definitely a fresh take (especially on the topic matter).

[Lisa Fransson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are brief sections of wonderful prose in these books. There are a lot of repetitions though, I got bored of the words "monster", "moon", "a good copy" (of a human), "chuckle" and various variations of "if it hadn't been for Harry." I understand that these were important features in the book, but to say them once in each book is enough, a couple of times at the most. The whole concept of Dexter is great though, very powerful and funny in places, even though it's horrible. Didn't mind the third book as much as other people seemed to. It does go off into the supernatural realm, which is fine with me.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have watched the television series and you’re coming into the book expecting the exact same thing, prepare to have your mind blown (or to be disappointed, depending upon whether or not you wanted an exact replica).

The Dexter books and the Dexter show (the thing that sent so many people searching for the books) are too completely separate entities, sharing only names – and the fact that we have a serial killer killing other killers. A lot of people are put off by the changes you find between the two, yet in my opinion it’s a nice take. I would have been disappointed if it had been the same.

I admit, it wasn’t exactly what I expected but it was still interesting.

[Benito · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay,
I loved the [TV:] series,
so I was happy to borrow this trilogy of the first three books,

and sure, while the first did largely reflect the original series
the 2nd and 3rd books veer so far from the complex, layered plots of the TV series, for very much the worse.

As Samantha, who lent me the books, put it - it makes you realise what a good job the TV adapters did with the material!

On the other hand, if you need to have a stab at writing a pilot featuring an anti-hero, as I do in the next few weeks, it IS useful...

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the entire Dexter series. My son's friend, Kevin, tried for years to get me to read them, but I was reluctant because I knew they were chopping up bodies and that's not usually my choice of reading. Well, I finally read one and then two and before I knew it Dexter and I were chopping up bad guys together and I was sucked into the maddening world of Dexter. These books will make you go YUCK a few times, but they are also witty. Thanks Kevin!

[Rob Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had really enjoyed the TV series so reading the book seemed the next logical step. This is an excellent read and very enjoyable. It goes into a lot more detail around the dark passenger than the TV series and sticks to the main plot line more which I liked. Found the books hard to put down particularly as they got closer to the end. There is excellent wit and humour of Lindsay's writing and the books are filled with thrilling events. Highly recommend.

[Zach Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of the tv series, so when I learned that it was based on books, I had to read them.
I love the two first books of the series, but the almost supernatural approach Lindsay takes regarding the "Dark Passenger", does (in my opinion) not quite fit with the two earlier works or the universe he created.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am currently on book 3 of this series-- I actually think the TV writers for the series are better than the original author. They give Dexter a much wittier personality with more interesting inner monologues.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, a great read, a bit different from the tv show, the characters were the same but the plots differed, which was great!!!

[Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good books :)

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read part 1, still waiting to read parts 2 and 3

[Jen Healey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I'm on the hunt for the next one now! So different from the brilliant tv series, but in a very interesting way. Fab!