Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay Jeff Lindsay. MostlyFiction.com links to Amazon.com, but we wholeheartedly encourage you to buy books from your local brick-n-mortar stores and to visit your library frequently. If you happen to click on one of links and make a purchase, we earn a commission and we always appreciate your support. Thank you. and don't forget to tell your friends about us. "Dearly Devoted Dexter" (Reviewed by Eleanor Bukowsky JUL 15, 2005) “And so I had learned how to dress neatly and smile and brush my teeth. I had become a perfect fake human, saying all the stupid and pointless things that humans say to each other all day long. No one suspected what crouched behind my perfect imitation smile.” Dearly Devoted Dexter , Jeff Lindsay’s second novel, again features Dexter Morgan, a serial killer with a heart of gold. By day, Dexter is a blood spatter analyst with the Miami police department. Under the light of the moon, Dexter listens to his inner voice, which he calls the “Dark Passenger,” as it impels him to track down people who commit terrible crimes without fear of punishment. Dexter happily takes upon himself the triple roles of judge, jury, and executioner. He gleefully dismembers his victims, as well. However, Dexter is distracted when another monster, who makes Dexter look like Mother Teresa, takes center stage. This individual, known by the nickname of Dr. Danco, literally takes his victims apart, one limb at a time. However, he does not kill his victims. When their bodies are found, these unfortunate people are doomed to a half-life without some vital body parts. Dexter’s foster sister, Debbie, a sergeant in the Miami police force, is in danger of going crazy when Dr. Danco nabs her new lover, a federal agent named Kyle Chutsky. Deborah desperately turns to Dexter to save the day. The police, who should be helping to nab Dr. Danco, are mostly AWOL, leaving Dexter to do the lion’s share of the dirty work. In addition to the aforementioned Dr. Danco, another villain is Sergeant Doakes of the Miami PD, who has taken a tremendous dislike to Dexter. Doakes senses that Dexter has the same hidden murderous impulses as he does, and he would like nothing better than to nab his nemesis during one of his nocturnal missions. To throw Doakes off his scent, Dexter starts spending an inordinate amount of time with his girlfriend, Rita, and her two kids, a habit that leads to unintended consequences. As fond as I am of Dexter, I must point out that, this time around, Lindsay’s writing is a little less sharp than it was in his first novel. The author makes some vague references to unsavory activities conducted by United States forces in El Salvador to explain Dr. Danco’s motive. However, the plot is wafer thin, and the characters are as insubstantial as the story. What ultimately saves the book is its dark, sardonic, and grotesque humor. Dexter is an amusing narrator with an extremely sick mind, and he is very funny. Not all readers will appreciate the many dismemberment puns, especially considering the nauseating scenes of gore and sadism that permeate this book. However, the strong of stomach will get a kick out of Lindsay’s satirical send-off of the many formulaic serial killer novels that flood the literary market every year. Furthermore, Dearly Devoted Dexter is fast-paced and it features a nifty chase sequence as well as a hair-raising conclusion. As an added bonus, Dexter may have found a young protégé to whom he can pass on his own life lessons, making Dexter a potential Mr. Rogers, albeit with homicidal tendencies. Although Dearly Devoted Dexter is not your typical mainstream thriller, it has a unique offbeat and wacky appeal, making it a worthy follow-up to Lindsay’s terrific debut novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter . Amazon readers rating: from 213 reviews. Read a chapter excerpt from Dearly Devoted Dexter at publisher's website. "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" (Reviewed by Eleanor Bukowsky JUL 15, 2005) In Jeff Lindsay's Darkly Dreaming Dexter , the antihero is Dexter Morgan, a lovable serial killer. Dexter suffered through a traumatic childhood event, and it left him with an insatiable desire to kill people. Instead of visiting a psychiatrist or joining a support group, Dexter pursues his hobby and finds interesting ways to satisfy his blood lust. Ironically, Dexter's day job is blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. It's hard not to like Dexter. He's good-looking, unfailingly polite, and attentive to his sister, Deb, a cop. Since Dexter has terrific insight into the minds of serial killers, he helps his sister by feeding her his opinions on an investigation into a series of brutal killings and dismemberments of female prostitutes in Miami. Deb hopes that this information will help her crack the case and get a promotion to the Homicide Bureau. As this other serial killer continues on his murderous rampage, it becomes increasingly clear that Dexter's understanding of the case and his empathy with the killer is too thorough. He begins to suspect that there is a strong and frightening connection between him and the murderer. Dexter is a fascinating and original character, a serial killer with a self-deprecating sense of humor and no illusions about himself. He knows that he is not like everyone else, and he tries to make the best of it. In several hilarious scenes, women hit on Dexter, and he is so devoid of real emotion and human understanding, that he has no idea how to respond. Lindsay covers some old territory, too, in which he explores departmental politics and bureaucratic ineptitude in the police department. The dialogue is clever and witty and the story is fast-paced, albeit completely unrealistic, but the book succeeds mostly because Dexter is so entertaining. Is it tasteful to feature a hero who kills regularly because his inner demons compel him to do so? Probably not, but Darkly Dreaming Dexter is funny, deliciously creepy, and a real page-turner. Amazon readers rating: from 548 reviews. Read a chapter excerpt from Darkly Dreaming Dexter at publisher's website. Dearly Devoted Dexter. Dearly Devoted Dexter is the second novel in the Dexter series of novels, written by Jeff Lindsay. It was written in 2005, the events of season three are loosely based on this book. The main serial killer of the story is Dr. Danco. Contents. Summary. A shadowy figure from Sgt. Doakes' past arrives in Miami, and begins preying on former U.S. Army operatives Doakes served with during the Salvadoran Civil War. The killer possesses a unique method of torture that has earned him the nickname "Dr. Danco": He kidnaps each victim, pumps them full of sedatives, and, over a period of several days, steadily removes their limbs, genitalia and facial features, before leaving them to contemplate their hideous mutilation in front of a carefully placed mirror. Meanwhile, Dexter, having been forced to suppress his own psychopathic urges by the machinations of an increasingly suspicious Doakes, welcomes the distraction and begins to focus on hunting down a possible child killer. However, he finds himself drawn into the case of the mysterious Dr. Danco when his sister Deborah's new boyfriend, detective Kyle Chutsky, turns out to be on the torturer's hit list. Amidst all the chaos, Dexter finds himself accidentally engaged to his girlfriend Rita, and begins to suspect Rita's children Astor and Cody of having sociopathic tendencies of their own. At the conclusion of the story, Dexter learns that Dr. Danco murders his victims by making them play a word game resembling hang man. Each victim is asked to guess a word chosen for them by Danco, each wrong answer resulting in the amputation of a body part. This is simply an additional cruelty, however, as Danco usually has cut out the tongue of the victim, making it impossible for their speech to be understood. The victim is also forced to witness his own dismemberment in a mirror hung above his "operating table." Jeff Lindsay. Back in the late 1970s, when Jeff Lindsay was in graduate school in theater at Carnegie Mellon, he had a directing teacher from Romania who had a concept called "illegal laughter." "Ve are making the audience to laugh," the funny, theatrical Lindsay says, imitating the accent of his former professor, "and then ve are making them to feel they haff broken the law for doing it." That, essentially, is the effect Lindsay strives for in Dearly Devoted Dexter , his second detective thriller featuring Dexter Morgan, who assumes the guise of a "mild-mannered forensic lab rat," working by day as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police department, but by night as a serial killer, albeit one who only goes after bad guys. Here, as in his well-regarded first novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter , Lindsay achieves his ends with a pleasing mix of grisly description, devious wit and clever wordplay. "I want somebody to laugh, then feel the goose bumps on the back of their neck," Lindsay says, elaborating on his premise during a call to his home near Sarasota, Florida. "To go: that's funny - who's behind me?" It takes a great deal of skill to provoke simultaneously such divergent responses in a reader. One reason Lindsay is able to pull it off is that he makes the monstrous Dexter understandable, even appealing. Dexter tells his story from his own inimitable perspective. And part of that perspective is his frequent assertion that he is not actually a human being. Of course Dexter only gets involved in the hunt for the murderous Dr. Danco, a veteran of the United States' covert operations in El Salvador now bent on revenge against those he thinks have betrayed him, because Dexter's sister, Deb, a Miami police officer, begs him to help her rescue her boyfriend from Danco's clutches. And then there is the darkly farcical scene - Lindsay's favorite - in which Dexter stumbles into becoming engaged to his girlfriend Rita. But why ruin a reader's shocked laughter by saying too much about Lindsay's deft storytelling? Of his main character's belief that he is not human, Lindsay says, "There has to have been a time when instead of saying, thank God I'm not human, Dexter was saying, why can't I be like everyone else? Nobody is born a villain. You know that about people. That understanding is part of basic acting." Lindsay's reference to acting is typical. He spent much of his life pursuing an acting career, including almost 15 years in Hollywood. "One of the reasons that I didn't really rocket to the top in Hollywood is that I was trying to do a little bit of everything," Lindsay says. "I was running a theater company with some friends, and I was writing plays, and acting and directing and doing comedy. I was in the ABC and Paramount new talent development program for comedy. And, oh yeah, there was my rock and roll band." Eventually his wife, Hilary Hemingway, a writer and documentary filmmaker herself (and, yes, the niece of that Hemingway), suggested he concentrate on one thing. "All along it seems like I've been getting gentle hints about writing," Lindsay says. "When I was an actor, somebody came up to me and said, the guy who was writing our new play got sick. Want to do it? And suddenly I was a playwright. And when I was doing comedy, friends would ask me to help write their routines. So suddenly I was a comedy writer. In everything I tried to do, I ended up writing. So finally I said, okay, I get the message." After the couple moved back to Florida, where both had been born and raised, Lindsay developed a routine of getting up at 4 a.m. and writing until it was time to get his kids ready for school. Lindsay and Hemingway have three daughters, ages 16, 9 and almost 2. Hemingway worked as a television news producer and Lindsay taught a bit at New University, hosted a couple of PBS shows and wrote what he calls "a semi-syndicated newspaper column" on fatherhood. "It started one year when Hilary was producing the evening news and I was home writing," Lindsay says. "Since she left for work before the kids came home from school and got home after they'd gone to bed, I was the only parent around. So it was about the adventures of a tough, super-macho intellectual with two daughters buying the first bra and so on. I think it ran in four papers." Lindsay's bright moment of inspiration for the first Dexter Morgan novel came at a Kiwanis Club luncheon, where he was the guest speaker. "I was vice president of the Key Club in high school," Lindsay assures BookPage readers, "so I don't have anything against the Kiwanis. But I was sitting there at the head table looking out at the audience getting ready to speak, and the idea just popped into my head that sometimes serial murder isn't a bad thing. I sort of blew off the talk and started scribbling on napkins." The success of the first book in the series, Lindsay says, allowed the family to stop living week-to-week. "We're now going in six-month chunks," he says wryly. "And that's a big improvement." But that success also complicated work on his second book, Dearly Devoted Dexter . "Writing at any time is difficult. Because in order to do it you have to leave yourself wide open, which lets in a lot of stuff you don't want to deal with. That's always problematic, dealing with the other stuff and still maintaining focus. I am a total neurotic, so there were times when I was thinking, the first book wasn't very good; why don't I just die? And there were times when I was thinking, how can I write a book as good as the first book? It went back and forth like that." But now Dearly Devoted Dexter is finished. It's a darn good read. And Jeff Lindsay is hard at work on a third book in the Dexter Morgan series. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. See our review for fuller assessment. Review Summaries Source Rating Date Reviewer The Guardian . 24/12/2005 Maxim Jakubowsk The NY Times Book Rev. . 24/7/2005 Marilyn Stasio. "How Dexter juggles his appetites, his curious relationships and his enemies makes for a bracing tale told in his customary sardonic but compelling voice. Clever and wonderfully incorrect, the adventures of Dexter are a delight for all those who enjoy their crime fiction just that little bit twisted." - Maxim Jakubowsk, The Guardian. Dexter Series. Dexter Morgan—blood-spatter analyst . . . husband . . . father . . . serial killer—knew that he couldn’t burn the candle at both ends forever, and now, his dark deeds have finally ensnared him. He is in prison on multiple . Dexter's Final Cut. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Unabridged Audiobook Download Trade Paperback. Dexter's Final Cut. Dexter Morgan (7) Lights. Camera. Murder. The Dexter series continues with a wild ride through Hollywood. Mega-star Robert Chase is famous for losing himself in his characters. When he and a group of actors descend on the Miami Police Department for . Double Dexter. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Hardcover Unabridged Audiobook Download Trade Paperback. Double Dexter. Dexter Morgan (6) THE DEXTER PHENOMENON—IN PRINT, ON THE SCREEN, AND IN THE HEARTS OF MILLIONS OF FANS—CONTINUES WITH A DEADLY DUEL . . . Dexter is displeased. Like any self-respecting, totally decent, soundly homicidal guy, Dexter Morgan . Dexter Is Delicious. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Hardcover Unabridged Audiobook Download Unabridged Compact Disc Trade Paperback. Dexter Is Delicious. Dexter Morgan (5) The “Dexter” phenomenon—in bookstores, on TV screens, and in the hearts of millions of fans worldwide—continues with his most delectable dish to date. Dexter Morgan’s neatly organized life as a blood . Dexter by Design. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Unabridged Audiobook Download Trade Paperback. Dexter by Design. The “Dexter” series—bestselling books, acclaimed TV show, worldwide phenomenon—continues with Dexter’s deadliest case yet. After his surprisingly glorious honeymoon in Paris, life is almost normal for . Dexter in the Dark. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Hardcover Unabridged Audiobook Download Trade Paperback. Dexter in the Dark. In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is accustomed to seeing evil deeds. . . particularly because, on occasion, he commits them himself. But Dexter's happy existence is turned upside down when he is called to an unusually . Dearly Devoted Dexter. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Unabridged Audiobook Download Trade Paperback. Dearly Devoted Dexter. Life’s tough for Dexter Morgan. It’s not easy being the world’s only serial killer with a conscience, especially when you work for the Miami police. To avoid suspicion, Dexter’s had to slip deep into his disguise: spending . Darkly Dreaming Dexter. By Jeff Lindsay. eBook Unabridged Audiobook Download Trade Paperback. Darkly Dreaming Dexter. The Basis for a New Showtime® Original Series Starring Michael C. Hall. Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of .