Customer Reviews

Dexter by Design

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Yummy.

I think fans of the first two Dexter books, but not so much the third, will be happy with this book. Not ecstatic, but happy.

Dexter has just gotten married, and by the time he gets home from his honeymoon, his dark passenger is rearing to go. He seems to be playing a little more fast and loose with the code of Harry and we see a bit of cat and mouse in this book, and I was somewhat reminded of book one.

I'm generally happy with whatever form of Dexter I can get (I even liked book three) so I was entertained. A few things grated on me a bit, however. The book lacked the humor of the first three, perhaps the novelty has worn off, but mostly I think Lindsay beat the horse dead on both Miami traffic, and Dexter's supposed lack of emotion. If Dexter had no emotion, he'd be a dull character nobody liked. So to be reminded like 100 times during the book that he doesn't have emotions, was overkill (ha!). Dexter might not be "human" but he definitely has strong feelings about things. (Food, justice, Doakes, himself, etc.)

I don't know if I have "book Rita" confused with "TV Rita", so I may have this wrong, but the minute they got married, she seemed to turn into this unlikeable simpering character. And finally, there were several times where I declared "That would never happen." So all in all, I enjoyed it, I was entertained, I love Dexter, but it was a tinge flawed.

Dexter the television show is among my favorites on TV. They've done a phenomenal job with the character, and all the characters on the show really. I give Lindsay all the credit in the world for having created this magnificently loveable serial killer, but for me, the television shows have surpassed the books. In spite of that, I definitely plan to keep reading the books.

There is only one thing worse than Lindsay taking his series in a completely un-foreshadowed direction (DEXTER IN THE DARK), and that is going back to the way it was before without even a comment. The situation is like the terrible ending of the novel SPHERE by Michael Crichton. (Let's all hold hands and say it NEVER happened! Wee! Horrible. Just horrible.) Simply put, going back to the "status quo" made DEXTER BY DESIGN...boring and predictable. Those are two words the Dexter novels should never be associated with.

Let's start at the beginning. Dexter and Rita are married and on their honeymoon in Paris--hooray for them. They go to the Louvre and make comments on how the "Mona Lisa" is overrated. (As an aside, I felt the same way when I visited the "Mona Lisa" display in the Louvre. You know what the "Mona Lisa" is mysteriously smiling about? The fact that she duped everyone into thinking the tiny painting was worth looking at.) The newly-married couple then go to an "exhibit" of one of those "artists" that hack into themselves and call it art. It was pure shock-value writing used to set up the displays of death that would be there to greet Dexter when he returned to Miami--but there is no connection between the "art" in Paris and the displays in Miami other than "Hey, the bodies are gonna be like THIS!" It was heavy-handed, coincidental, and tasteless.

And then we get to the formula. Dexter goes home to Miami. Dexter sees a body at a crime-scene. It intrigues him. His sister, predictably, runs around screaming like a foul-mouthed banshee while accomplishing, exactly, nothing. Rita bursts into tears every four chapters or so. With five pages left, like usual, Lindsay wraps everything up as quickly and as rushed as possible. The end.

Seriously, the formula has gotten old, but I didn't realize it until reading this novel. But you know what really bothers me about these novels now? The lack of character development. This is where the TV show has pulled ahead of the novels. In the show, the characters have been growing and learning over the course of three and a half seasons. The novels? No change. Deborah is the same as she was from sentence number one in the first novel. Same with Rita. The other side characters? They may as well be cardboard cut-outs. Dexter can only carry the novels by himself for so long. There comes a point where the other characters need to exert some influence on Dexter and the flow of the novels. After all, isn't a PoV character also a product of the side-characters? This is what the Showtime series realized after their Season 1, and it's why it has been enjoyable and fresh from season to season.

The whole reason the Dexter novels were successful is because they were so different. With Lindsay following an easily discernible formula, that differentiating factor has been neutralized. I want Lindsay to get these novels back on track...really, I do. He (Lindsay) needs to do something different without resorting to stupidity-inducing shock value. Do I think he will come up with something original to freshen up the series? No, because he poorly executed his "brilliant" plan in book 3 and panicked by going back to the standard formula in book 4. Also, in DEXTER BY DESIGN, Lindsay took some of the filler plot-lines from the TV show and used them as "new stuff" in the book. I figure he will soon continue this trend and have the fifth book follow the Second Season of the TV show where Dexter is covering his tracks from an FBI agent. At this point, Dexter feels like a paycheck generator.

DEXTER BY DESIGN is nothing more than a terribly mediocre entry into the series, and the genre.

For a slightly more detailed review, head over to my blog, Elitist Book Reviews.

The infamous Dexter Morgan is now married and settled down... but of course, that hasn't really changed anything inside him. Or has it?

And "Dexter By Design" is a solid fourth entry in Jeff Lindsay's thriller series, about a serial killer who focuses his efforts on serial killers. While there's still a bit too much focus on Dexter's new home life and stepkids, Lindsay still laces the story plenty of incisive wit, weird and grotesque serial killings, and a general aura of overhanging darkness. And coq au vin, occasionally.

After a brief and mostly idyllic (except for some gruesome performance art) honeymoon in Paris, Dexter has returned to Miami as a devoted husband and family man, yada yada. He also returns just in time for a string of gruesome new murders: four people who are eviscerated, filled with weird stuff (fruit and sunscreen, among other things), and artfully arranged. When it causes a media storm, a reluctant Deb asks Dexter to please help her out with the investigation.

His own experiences (and the Dark Passenger) tell Dexter that this isn't an ordinary serial killer, but someone who seems to have a strange grudge against the tourist trade of Miami. Or something like that. Whatever But things get far more personal for our soulless anti-hero when Deb is viciously stabbed, and Dexter's killing of the serial killer only end up causing more trouble... because he got the wrong guy. The next murder is someone close to his family, and Dexter ends up on a race against time to keep them from being the next round of victims.

"Dexter By Design" is neither the best nor the worst of the Dexter series -- while it's better than the story that precedes it, it's not quite up to the brilliance of the first couple books. But it's a fairly solid thriller story taken on its own merits, laced with Jeff Lindsay's dark wit and macabre goings-on (as well as some bizarre new problems associated with being a stepdad -- such as the whole "poop van" scenario).

Lindsay juggles and eventually intertwines the two different sides of Dexter's bizarre life, in a style that mingles tongue-in-cheek wit with a sort of mellow sociopathy. He has a knack for weird descriptions (at one point Deborah looks like "a large and very angry fish, all teeth and wide eyes"), and Dexter's cool internal observations glide through the increasingly frenzied plot like a swathe of black silk ("... while the rest of the world went on its merry way, killing and brutalizing each other without me").

The most pressing flaw? Well, the first half's focus on Dexter's new family is a bit on the dull side, primarily because we're told rather than shown that Astor and Cody are disturbed kids. Fortunately Lindsay seems to realize this (as does Dexter) and things start smoothing out after that, with criminal investigations, kidnappings, revenge and ghastly performance art.

But the fascinating aspect of this book is Dexter himself -- he claims to be soulless and feel nothing, like a demon made flesh, and the Dark Passenger still revels in death and pain. But he seems to be developing some personal feelings for his new stepchildren ("I had a large and wonderful responsibility in taking charge of these two and keeping them safely on the Harry Path") and his distrustful sister Deborah, and even the flickerings of an embyronic conscience. These developments trouble and confuse him, while changing him enough that the character doesn't stagnate.

While not the best of the Dexter series, "Dexter By Design" is an interesting thriller that pushes his bloodstained anti-hero into some intriguing new dilemmas. Worth reading if you've enjoyed what came before it.

I can only assume that some of the more positive reviews for this book are from people who have yet to read it.

** Spoiler Alert **

I am a big fan of the books and TV show but this is easily the weakest of the books. Here Dexter is more of a fumbling idiot than the homicidal genius we're so used to. He is outsmarted at almost every turn and is really just a spectator at the books climax. His trip to Cuba (which could have been a good twist) just fizzles and we left with him just.. well him leaving the country and going back to work to 'wait to see what happens'. His only kill in the book is an unplanned, spur of the moment act, against a man he has misidentified in a room which he knows appeared in a prior video and, even when the man gives him the hint, Dexter still doesn't realize he is being video taped (something most readers would have known 10 pages ago). And his nemesis here is half superman, half moron himself - he can pull off the most complex operations one second (detecting Dexter in Cuba, kill in Cuba, kill of Scout Master) but then tries to grab the kids from their car and gets stabbed with a pencil (while Dexter is falling on an ant mound)!!!

This book is worth a skip - only the last line is needed to go from the last book to the next.

I bought all the four existing Dexter novels two weeks ago and just finished with the last, "Dexter by Design". While it was still fun and enjoyable to read I had the feeling that Darkly Dreaming Dexter evolved from the first novel to the last to Dopey Dumb Dexter. In the first two novels Dexter is a sharp, intelligent and calm killer, but what's left of him in Dexter by Design is a protagonist that is more human then ever. And not a smart one. It may be a change of pace with Dexter being somewhat more human and stupid, but what I liked about the other novels was, that Dexter and his Dark Passenger were so clever and smart. In the end he outwitted his enemies and stood triumphant. None of this takes place in the 4th novel. Dexter is outsmarted by nearly everyone in this book. The most disappointing part of this book, was the ending. The events are so unbelievable(and not in a good way) and Dexter stumbles more or less in and out of these. Poor Dark Dexter lost his wit and intelligence and comes out of it unharmed because of the help from others. The role of Dexter feels more like a bystander who is unable to change anything.

I still enjoyed the book for the most time and wanted to read on, but was very disappointed by the ending.

For fans of Dexter and Jeff Lindsay's writing, this book is still a good choice, just dont expect good ol' Dark Dashing Dexter and be prepared for Dull Dopey Dexter.

If you liked the first three novels, you will propably like this too, but don't set your expectations too high.

Dexter by Design it one of the rare publishing franchises that have been surpassed in quality by its TV version. Thoughout this Dexter I developed the idea that a manuscript was due by the writer's publisher and this was all he could come up with. I have three primary complaints. 1. Dexter actually accomplished very little personally in this book-it was all done for Dexter by his sister, her boyfriend, his stepchildren, and his wife while he was led around, largely in a stupor. 2. I lost count of how many times Dexter touted the abilities of his huge brain, contrasted by the many instances he stated that he was outsmarted, again by all around him. 3. I detect a harsh representation of women in this book-he treats both his wife and his sister as second class intellects-it seems the author does not understand or appreciate women. It hurts me to say these things because I love the novels and the video version, but I felt like I wasted my time reading Dexter by Design.

Jeff Lindsay once again lovingly lavishes his fans with wonderfully, woe-filled alliteration. His wit and wonderful descriptions of death make this Dexter tale deliciously delightful. It ore than makes up for the stellarly lackluster last installment "Dexter in the Dark". Dexter and is demonic Dark Passenger once again go out into the magnificent moonlight to maim his way through Miami.

This time Dexter must do battle with an artist with a modus operandi for death and dismemberment. "By Design" is certainly designed better than the poor predecessor, but this is by no means the best novel. While the first two stand as a wonderful work about a psychotic serial killer, the fourth is a mere runner up.

Still wonderfully written, as only Jeff Lindsay can, it is worth getting for any dearly devoted Dexter fan.

I very much enjoyed listening to the audio book, again very well read by Nick Landrum.

Mainly due to two reasons:

#1, Jeff Lindsay ist back to normality. No more mystic trash spoiling Dexters narrative.

#2, Dexter is as hilarious as in the first two books, may be even more so. His self-mockery is really amusing.

And isn't it a perfect turn of events, that Ritas hip becomes more dangerous for the super villain than Dexters dark passenger? ;-)

The story is not as horrible and thrilling as in the first two books. That's why I rate it only 4 stars compared to the legendary start of Dexters career. But I'm really happy that good old Dexter is back, and I'm looking forward to the next episode!

Martin Weiss, Munich, Germany

Dexter is such an incredible character, and I've largely enjoyed these books just to read his very entertaining thoughts. The suspense part of the series has always been satisfactory as well, but for me, the main enjoyment is found reading about how Dexter navigates the world around him and his befuddled reaction to 'normal' people as he tries to blend in. Recent developments between the relationship with his sister, Deb, are very interesting, but sadly she's sidelined for a good bit of the book.

The first two books in this series were such great reads, and the third one stumbled badly with the revelation of the 'Dark Passenger's true nature. It seems as if the author is trying to get things back on track, but this book was still a bit of a disappointment compared to the first two. I look forward to the next volume in the series in hopes that improvement keeps being made.

Having read all 3 of the previous Dexter books, I was expecting this one to be a step up from the 3rd one (Dexter in the Dark). The first book was incredible, the second was even more incredible, and the third was average (a huge let down after the success of the first two). I wanted this to be a redemption of sorts, and it was. Now, it's not as good as the first or second, but it's much better than the third. It's still quite a good read, it just didn't have the same affect on me as the first two. You'll recommend it to people if they ask, but you won't be urging people to read this, either. All in all, I'd recommend this book and give it about 8 out of 10.