Dexter in the Dark

July 23, 2007
In Lindsay’s third novel to feature endearing Miami cop and serial killer Dexter Morgan (after 2005’s Darkly Devoted Dexter
), the Dark Passenger, the voice inside Dexter’s head that from time to time drives him to the “Theme Park of the Unthinkable,” inexplicably disappears while Morgan is investigating a gruesome double murder on the University of Miami campus. The crime scene, at which two co-eds were ritualistically burned and beheaded, gives even the human vivisection–loving vigilante the creeps. As the burned and beheaded body count continues to mount, Morgan realizes that the force behind the killings is something even more evil than his Dark Passenger. Though the macabre wit that powered the first two installments of this delightfully dark series (also a hit on TV’s Showtime) is still evident, this third entry takes a decidedly deep introspective turn as Dexter is forced to contemplate not only life without his enigmatic companion but also who—or what—he truly is.

This third outing of serial killer Dexter Morgan has something new for the oddly affecting and strangely likable blood-splatter expert. (Dexter kills only people who deserve to be killed, especially other serial killers.) Narrator Nick Landrum uses a sneering, wicked, and twisted adolescent tone to imbue Dexter's take on his impending marriage, which will also involve his becoming a stepfather. Landrum expertly allows anxiety to seep into Dexter's narrative as the ever present voice in his head, called "the Dark Passenger," leaves him just when he needs him most. Is Dexter, for the first time in his life, feeling something for another human being? Why should we care? Because narrator Landrum makes us. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine