I read the first book in the series, "Darkly Dreaming
Dexter," before I watched the show. The book has a really
fascinating premise; it's a unique take on the serial killer
genre, and the voice is strong. The book overall feels really
unfinished. Like, I sort of suspect he wrote a few chapters,
with a proposal, sold it off the premise, then.
. .didn't really finish; the ending is abrupt, the plot sort
of falls off and doesn't live up to the beginning.
The show, on the other hand, takes Jeff Lindsay's brilliant
premise, expands it and places it in a real-world setting
with multiple points of view, believable office politics,
great supporting characters. In the book, pretty much
everybody but Dexter is an idiot. The series does a much
better job.
So, recommendations: 1) Watch the show first. If you really
love it and want to see where it came from, read the book.
Otherwise, the show is much better, and the book spoils
things that I wouldn't want to be spoiled for.
2) Somebody mentioned that the book is only interesting if
you're interested in serial killers. I think this is probably
true, though I'd expand it to the genre of serial killer
writing/ unreliable narration rather than the idea of serial
killers themselves. (i.e., I have very little interest in
serial killer true crime, but I've read enough fiction in the
genre to be intrigued by a fresh take on it, which this
definitely is. HOWEVER, I think that the series could be of
interest to plenty of people who have no interest in that
genre; it's the kind of show about which I've heard people
saying, constantly, "I never expected to like this, but I
do."
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