Dexter and his dark passenger are back in this sequel to Darkly Dreaming Dexter. This time he’s on the trail of a terrible sociopath who takes the body parts of his victims without taking their lives – leaving mewling, horrible, barely-human torsos behind. Dexter and his sister Deborah are drawn into the case even deeper when Deborah’s love interest is also taken by the sociopath. In order to find the missing man, Dexter convinces Sergeant Doakes (his arch nemesis) to act as bait. Doakes is taken, and Dexter rescues Deborah’s love interest. The others convince him to find Doakes as well – Dexter is reluctant, as Doakes’ disappearance leaves him free to indulge the passions of his dark passenger – and Dexter is then captured. Deborah saves the day and everyone, save the sociopath and his victims, lives happily ever after (or until the next book). There are more than a few disturbing things going on in this novel – so, don’t tackle it over a meal. The sociopath’s method of destroying his victims is graphic and effective. He removes their appendages slowly while the victims are heavily drugged, gives them time to heal and makes sure they don’t die from shock. He also makes them watch. Final steps include removing their tongues, eyelids, teeth. They are nothing recognizably human when he’s finished. The descriptions of the *surgeries* he performs are enough to turn your stomach and wonder why we are so hooked on this kind of horrifying violence. Also, after Dexter accidentally gets engaged to his girlfriend, Rita, he learns that Rita’s son seems to have a fledgling dark passenger of his own. And Dexter’s looking forward to furthering his education. Now, this kid is only, what, six? Obviously Dexter isn’t in his right mind, but you wonder if maybe someone will take some notice and get the kid some help. Is it too late to reach out to him or are these dark passions something that take root early and can’t be overcome? Dexter’s own lack of affect – particularly where Sgt. Doakes is concerned – is also disturbing. He fakes being human so well sometimes that you forget he’s dangerous and dangerously unfeeling. I think it would be difficult for *most* people to be in the same room as someone having their limbs tortured off of them. I mentioned, after reading the first book, that I was surprised that this sort of thing could be my cup of tea. I’m definitely moving outside of my comfort zone with this one – it made me queasy. But, I was also unsatisfied because it didn’t really explore new territory. The phrase “dark passenger” was deliciously evocative in the first book, but it’s rather overused by the time we get to this second book. Also, it takes awhile to get going. I was hoping that there would be more details about Dexter’s line of work – and not just the sideline cases he gets involved in at the behest of his bossy sister (and Deborah’s just an obnoxious nag). I think I’ll try one more just to see if I’ve had enough of Dexter. I’m notorious about falling out with series fiction, because I get sick of hearing/seeing the same thing over and over again.
Whether he is darkly dreaming or dearly devoted most readers will find that they develop a special affinity toward this sociopathic serial killer. Perhaps it is due to his bond with his sister or his awkward relationship with his girlfriend Rita or the fact that even cold detached Dexter can’t be cruel to an adorable child. In fact, it is Dexter’s fondness for the innocence of children that drives his desire to kill in Dearly Devoted Dexter as the novel opens with Dexter on the hunt for a pair of pedophiles. While it may seem an awkward statement - Dearly Devoted Dexter is a good book but what drags it down is the lack of killing by Dexter. During this novel he is under constant surveillance from Sargeant Doakes which means that Dexter’s dark passenger isn’t able to come out to play. The main villain in Dearly Devoted Dexter, “Dr. Danco” is quite cruel. He is in Miami targeting members of his old special ops team; members who had betrayed him and resulted in his torture in a harsh El Salvador prison. When the first victim is discovered, alive but in horribly heinous condition, Sargeant Doakes immediately tells the Captain to call in the Feds, specifically a man named Kyle Chutsky. When Kyle goes missing and Dexter’s sister Deborah (Kyle’s romantic interest of the moment) goes on the case Dexter becomes wrapped up in the investigation as well. Dexter soon learns that Sargeant Doakes was a member of the Special Ops team that is being targeted. Will Dexter be able to solve the case and rid himself of his Doakes shadow so his Dark Passenger can play again? While the storyline about Dr. Danco’s quest for revenge is thrilling fans of Dexter may feel disappointed that the Dark Passenger isn’t able to appear during the novel. Dexter himself seems to take a backseat in a novel where he is the title character. He is so handcuffed throughout the novel that at times it becomes frustrating to read. The best thing about this novel for fans who love sociopathic Dexter is that his cold detached nature is finally on full display. When Dr. Danco’s victims are discovered and other characters are barely able to look upon the scene Dexter is excited by the technique. His cold emotionless sociopathic nature is evident in his interactions with Rita, the children, Sargeant Doakes and even his sister Deborah. Lindsay’s writing style is unique. There is a lot of cold dry wit (courtesy of sociopathic Dexter) and a lot of alliteration especially when identifying Dexter (e.g.: Dearly Devoted Dexter). Alliteration is a widely underused literary device and one that I happen to love. While very different from the television series that ran on Showtime and ended in 2013 fans of the show should consider picking up the book. Review by Ashley LaMarClosed the Cover
Dearly Devoted Dexter opens similarly to the second season of the TV series, with Dexter's interior monologue talking about the thrill of the chase...and it turning out he's talking about playing Kick the Can because Sgt Doakes has been trailing him.After that, the book takes a definite departure from the series as it focuses on the police pursuit of a former military torturer from El Salvador they refer to as Doctor Danco (he slices, he dices, he turns out chopped vegetables). To be honest, this criminal is someone I'd like to see the TV series take a crack at. While not a traditional killer, Doctor Danco instead slowly amputates his victims while they're still alive, making them watch in a mirror, slowly driving them insane before he leaves a screaming limbless, tongueless torso behind.Dexter has to help hunt for this lunatic while sublimating his urges to kill because of Doakes close eye, and dealing with an accidental proposal to his girlfriend Rita. An extremely enjoyable read.
—Reg Franklin
Second day of my Dexter Morgan marathon and Book Two is done. Have I mentioned how much I love Audible's x3 narration speed? Well, it really isn't x3, as an eight hour book still took four hours to listen to, but it's still a quick way to barrel through a series of short books. This is the point where I started enjoying the show more than the novels. Doakes has a much better role in the Showtime series. Of course, this is solely my opinion. I do understand why the Showtime series decided to go a separate route. There's not much meat on this bone. While this book is just as long as the first, significantly less happens. The books get longer after this one, which is a very good thing in my eyes. Dearly Devoted Dexter is probably my least favorite addition to Lindsay's series. Mind you, I have not read Double Dexter or Dexter's Final Cut, therefore I have no inkling as to the quality of those two books. Sorry, but the main issue I had with this book is a spoiler. Click at your own risk:(view spoiler)[My biggest problem with this one is the utter absurdity around the 75% mark. You have a man who's recently had pieces of himself lopped off, but he puts off medical treatment in an attempt to catch a killer. I'm talking a leg. From the knee down. Cut off. Gone. We're not dealing with simply a chopped off finger (though he suffers from that, too), or a flesh wound, but the entire lower half of his leg. My suspension of disbelief was skullfucked into oblivion from that moment on. (hide spoiler)]
—Edward Lorn
Dexter, quite possibly one of fictions most charming serial killers, is back in book 2 dodging punches from Deb, spouting off quips and doing a little righteous slaying. This time he’s hunting down a pedophile to calm his “dark passenger” but he‘s having a hard time finding some “me” time because of the unavoidable humans in his life. Dexter is being shadowed by Sergeant Doakes who suspects he is up to no good in his free time (and he is or would be if people would leave him alone). This forces Dexter to pretend to be a boring human and spend most nights with his faux girlfriend Rita and her two kids watching tv. As if all that weren’t bad enough, his sister Detective Deb insists she needs his assistance on a case and drags him along with her to do some sleuthing. When he sees the first limbless, lipless, tongue-less (well, you get the picture) but still breathing victim he is intrigued by the man’s work and cheers up a bit, hoping to find the man and learn his secrets. Mayhem, murder and an unexpected change in his “romance” with Rita follow. I found it all quite entertaining in a darkly sarcastic and humorous way but I’m not a hardcore murder mystery/police procedural fan and this is more of a quirky character study. If it’s hardboiled crime and air-tight plots you’re looking for you will probably find a lot of holes in this story because it relies on a lot of improbable situations, most of it slightly humorous. There is also no overly described violence or gore here and the situations Dexter finds himself in can border on the ridiculous but it always amused me. The author has a knack for funny descriptions, like this one, that just work for me.“He stood there for a moment, gaping around, his receding reddish hair looking like it had gone through a storm and his pale belly hanging slightly over the waist of his dingy pajama bottoms. He did not look terribly dangerous to me, but of course I was not a five-year-old boy. After a moment, in which he stood with his mouth open, and scratched himself, and looked like he was a modeling for a statue of the greek God of Stupidity. . .”But the writing is not without its annoying quirks. Listening to Dexter refer to himself as “Dear Departed Dexter”, “Dour Dutiful Dexter, “Dutifully Dashing Dexter”. “Dimpled Dexter” and “Dexter the Sofa Spud” gets old quickly on audio. Dexter in the third person was often too cutesy for his own good and started to sound really corny as the book went along.As with Darkly Dreaming Dexter, I again listened to the audio version read by author Jeff Lindsay. If you’ve read my review for that audiobook all of the same narration complaints hold true here. Once again, Deb is portrayed as a woman who never simply speaks but barks out every word with impatience and unpleasantness. She alternates between being a grouchy, demanding bitch and a hysterical mess. Jeff Lindsay does a very good job voicing Dexter though. His voice is calm, funny and a little geeky so I guess I can deal with the obnoxious Deb even if the performance makes me cringe!
—Bark's Book Nonsense
