Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Plot:
I was not a fan of how the previous book ended but I had to find out how the book series ended. Thankfully I found the plot for this book to be better paced, though it was a little slow at times. I really enjoyed seeing Brian return and the two of them working together again.
I also liked how the kidnapping subplot brought the kids and Deb back into Dexter's life. The last 25% of the plot was especially exciting and I liked how most of the loose ends were tied up. My only real complaint about the plot is that I felt the subplot with Vince was dropped a little soon because I found that to be really enjoyable as well.
Setting:
It was interesting seeing the correctional institute Dexter was being held in, enjoyed the various hotel rooms, as well as the yacht at the end.
Characters:
Dexter seemed to be more in character in this book, aside from one part in which he turns into a big coward and another in which he waves off two blue SUV sightings near him while drug lords are stalking him and his brother as coincidental. Sigh, I know he can be rather dense at times, but really? Other than that, I still rooted for him, even though I was still peeved at his behavior in the previous book. While I always like to see Dexter survive, I felt his send off in this one was better than in the TV show.
I never cared much for Brian's character and found him annoying in the last book he made an appearance in but I actually really enjoyed his presence in this one. I kind of hoped that he would make an appearance in the end and I liked how the series wrapped up with Brian since it also kind of started with him. I kind of felt bad that he died at the end, though it was for a good reason.
It was nice to see Debs again, too, and in her usual fury. While I was a little disappointed at her lack of faith in Dexter in the beginning, at the same time I can also see why she would be cautious. I feel her character really developed as she had to take a huge leap in Dexter's faith to get the kids back. She even had to tolerate Brian, who tried to kill her in the first book. I loved her snappy comebacks to Dexter and am happy that at least in the books that she survives.
I enjoyed seeing Vince's character be taken a little more seriously than in the last book.
I also found Dexter's lawyer to be an interesting addition.
Relationships:
I loved the relationship between Dexter and Brian in this book. It's always been an interesting one even when I didn't particularly enjoy Brian before but his character grew on me in this one. The similarities between the two were striking and I loved how they both also have this intense relationship with food.
I also liked how Dexter and Deb's relationship ended in this book VS how it did on the show. It seemed more realistic, had none of those weird romantic feelings, and didn't end as dismally for everyone.
The friendship between Dexter and Vince, though strange throughout the series, was especially cute in this one. They're both so weird.
Writing/Voice:
Lindsay does a great job with the writing and Dexter's voice. Thankfully this book is a much better finale than I anticipated.
Ending:
This ending was sad but also left me more satisfied than the one for the television show. For all of his talk of being a monster, Dexter actually becomes a hero. I feel that the end tied up well. It would have been nice to see a little peek at what happened after his death in regards to Debs, the kids, Vince, his reputation, etc, but I'm overall happy with the ending.
Overall, this book was much better than the last and my preferred ending for the series. It's not my favorite book but it was enjoyable and wrapped up well so 3.5 stars.
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dex is in trouble. I know, Dex is ALWAYS in trouble, but this time the law has finally caught up with him – ironically, for crimes he didn’t commit – & Deb is nowhere to be seen. Has Dexter lost the one relationship that really means something to him?
As to be expected, the final instalment of Dexter’s saga is filled with close calls, law enforcement just getting in the way & ruining everything, Dex in the wrong place at the wrong time, lots of talk of food & Miami traffic, & even more situations that will have you asking how in the hell this is possibly going to end well.
It also features a wonderful family reunion that I didn’t realise I was desperate for until I saw it happening.
All of the murder & mayhem aside, I like Dexter. He’s a good guy. Again, let’s just ignore his obvious faults, okay? And to see him have a chance to truly be himself, to share these experiences & feel no judgement and instead, find camaraderie as these Dark Passengers flexed their wings together; to see Dex in awe of another’s killing room and just having the most fun ever – it almost brings a tear to the eye.
As the ending of the book drew closer, the tension really started to build & Lindsay is a master at balancing these stressful moments with Dexter’s offbeat humour – this is probably one of the things I’ll miss the most about this series.
As an ending to a series there were some things that felt a little incomplete but I cannot say definitively whether that is Lindsay not tying up loose ends or me having forgotten that they had already been tied up previously.
And how do I feel about the actual ending itself? Honestly, I’m still unsure. Mostly because the stupidly hopeful ‘look for a happy ending everywhere’ part of me is choosing to hold onto that hope, rather than accepting what I think actually happened.
The real question though – is the book ending better than Dexter the Lumberjack? Well it’s not like that’s hard to beat but yes, yes it is.
Out With a Whimper
Disappointment, thy name is Jeff Lindsay. It was abundantly clear long ago that Lindsay had fallen into a rut with his Dexter series, that the magic had gone away and he was just going through the motions. I mean honestly, it reached the point where virtually every book had the same ludicrous ending: Dexter's stepkids are kidnapped by the bad guy. To call it stultifying would be a colossal understatement.
Then along came Dexter's Final Cut, and it appeared Lindsay may have been attempting to invigorate his flagging franchise. You see, at the close of that installment, Dexter's not-so-beloved wife, Rita, was killed. The possibilities, they were endless. How would Dexter handle single fatherhood without dearly devoted Rita? How would he get by in the world without the woman who provided his primary cover as a normal family man? For the first time in a long while, I found myself actually looking forward to seeing where Lindsay was going with the story.
You can imagine, then, that news that the next installment was to be Dexter's grand finale came as as bit of a surprise. Why invigorate a franchise just to retire it? It didn't really make sense. Still, one couldn't deny that Lindsay hadn't seemed interested in the series in a long time, so maybe this was an opportunity for him to end the series on a high point. That possibility was juicy enough for me to get excited. What was even more exciting? That the premise of Dexter is Dead finds Dexter in jail for Rita's death and several of the other murders that happened at the end of Dexter's Final Cut. We were going to get to see Dexter literally wrestling with the difficulty of Rita's death and staring down the possibility of indirectly answering for the wealth of sins he's committed across the years.
That would have potentially been a great book. If only Jeff Lindsay had possessed even the slightest interest in writing it. Instead, the whole jail storyline becomes a subplot with alarming speed. Instead of focusing, Lindsay forces Dexter to juggle his murder investigation with an utterly ludicrous subplot involving a drug lord who is displeased with Dexter's brother, Brian. Brian agrees to bankroll Dexter's legal needs if Dexter will help him fight off the drug lord's goons, track down the drug lord, and kill him. Have I mentioned that none of this drug business makes the least amount of sense? And guess--just guess--which plotline Lindsay is more excited about? Just as you start wishing Lindsay would just choose one storyline and stick with it, he does. And he chooses the wrong one. He chooses the nonsensical supervillain storyline he's already written a hundred times.
You'll never guess what happens next. THE KIDS GET KIDNAPPED. I wanted to throw the book across the room in anger and frustration. The fact that I didn't just goes to show how little I had invested in this world anymore. And honestly, if this weren't the final Dexter book I might have just quietly put the book down and gone about my life, never looking back or thinking about picking up another one of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter books ever again anyway.
Was it worth staying for the last page? Not particularly. I get no joy in saying that I stuck it out to the end. There's no payoff or reward for loyalty to be found in this series. You know, I don't ask for a happy ending or a lot of theatrics. It's just sad when an author clearly doesn't care anymore, hasn't been putting in the effort for a long time, and then doesn't even give you the dignity of a half-assed finale. You'd think Lindsay could have at least faked some enthusiasm for one measly book to do a proper goodbye, instead of falling on all the tired cliches he'd already worn out several books earlier. Even Dexter's goodbye is a tedious paint-by-numbers.
Grade: F
For more Dexter, check out my blog Supposedly Fun.
Disappointment, thy name is Jeff Lindsay. It was abundantly clear long ago that Lindsay had fallen into a rut with his Dexter series, that the magic had gone away and he was just going through the motions. I mean honestly, it reached the point where virtually every book had the same ludicrous ending: Dexter's stepkids are kidnapped by the bad guy. To call it stultifying would be a colossal understatement.
Then along came Dexter's Final Cut, and it appeared Lindsay may have been attempting to invigorate his flagging franchise. You see, at the close of that installment, Dexter's not-so-beloved wife, Rita, was killed. The possibilities, they were endless. How would Dexter handle single fatherhood without dearly devoted Rita? How would he get by in the world without the woman who provided his primary cover as a normal family man? For the first time in a long while, I found myself actually looking forward to seeing where Lindsay was going with the story.
You can imagine, then, that news that the next installment was to be Dexter's grand finale came as as bit of a surprise. Why invigorate a franchise just to retire it? It didn't really make sense. Still, one couldn't deny that Lindsay hadn't seemed interested in the series in a long time, so maybe this was an opportunity for him to end the series on a high point. That possibility was juicy enough for me to get excited. What was even more exciting? That the premise of Dexter is Dead finds Dexter in jail for Rita's death and several of the other murders that happened at the end of Dexter's Final Cut. We were going to get to see Dexter literally wrestling with the difficulty of Rita's death and staring down the possibility of indirectly answering for the wealth of sins he's committed across the years.
That would have potentially been a great book. If only Jeff Lindsay had possessed even the slightest interest in writing it. Instead, the whole jail storyline becomes a subplot with alarming speed. Instead of focusing, Lindsay forces Dexter to juggle his murder investigation with an utterly ludicrous subplot involving a drug lord who is displeased with Dexter's brother, Brian. Brian agrees to bankroll Dexter's legal needs if Dexter will help him fight off the drug lord's goons, track down the drug lord, and kill him. Have I mentioned that none of this drug business makes the least amount of sense? And guess--just guess--which plotline Lindsay is more excited about? Just as you start wishing Lindsay would just choose one storyline and stick with it, he does. And he chooses the wrong one. He chooses the nonsensical supervillain storyline he's already written a hundred times.
You'll never guess what happens next. THE KIDS GET KIDNAPPED. I wanted to throw the book across the room in anger and frustration. The fact that I didn't just goes to show how little I had invested in this world anymore. And honestly, if this weren't the final Dexter book I might have just quietly put the book down and gone about my life, never looking back or thinking about picking up another one of Jeff Lindsay's Dexter books ever again anyway.
Was it worth staying for the last page? Not particularly. I get no joy in saying that I stuck it out to the end. There's no payoff or reward for loyalty to be found in this series. You know, I don't ask for a happy ending or a lot of theatrics. It's just sad when an author clearly doesn't care anymore, hasn't been putting in the effort for a long time, and then doesn't even give you the dignity of a half-assed finale. You'd think Lindsay could have at least faked some enthusiasm for one measly book to do a proper goodbye, instead of falling on all the tired cliches he'd already worn out several books earlier. Even Dexter's goodbye is a tedious paint-by-numbers.
Grade: F
For more Dexter, check out my blog Supposedly Fun.
When I first started reading back in 2009, one of the series I became obsessed with was the Dexter Morgan series. I loved the concept of an anti-hero as the protagonist and Jeff Lindsay had come up with a good concept of a forensic analyst/sociopath. I liked exploring the mind of a killer but not just any sociopath; Dexter had a code, he could not control his urge to kill but he made it his mission to only hunt the people that deserved to die. We can talk about the moral complexities at great length but now I want to review Dexter is Dead.
This is the eighth and final book in the Dexter Morgan series; the books were a bit hit or miss but Dexter was a great character. Most people know of Dexter Morgan from the hit TV show Dexter, the character is the same but after the first book and season the two mediums took different directions. There are plenty of times where it felt like both the show and the books stole good ideas from each other but for the most part the storylines were different.
I cannot go into the plot of this one because it would contain too many spoilers; especially for book seven (Dexter’s Final Cut) as this takes place directly after those events. I liked that this novel took up after the last novel, bringing together a much larger plot; I want more crime novels to have an overarching plot line. I do not read many series, and I think the Dexter series is the only one I have spent so much time in, but I really enjoyed returning to such a great character.
Jeff Lindsay’s writing is not that strong and I felt there were many times where this book and series just got clunky or too clichéd. However because the protagonist was so well developed, this helped carry the bad writing. I am pleased to say Dexter is Dead is one of the stronger novels in the series and helped end everything on a high note. Also the ending of the book series is so much better than the ending of the TV show. I am going to miss the Dexter books and might have to find another crime series to replace the void it has left. Suggestions welcome.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/mystery/dexter-is-dead/
This is the eighth and final book in the Dexter Morgan series; the books were a bit hit or miss but Dexter was a great character. Most people know of Dexter Morgan from the hit TV show Dexter, the character is the same but after the first book and season the two mediums took different directions. There are plenty of times where it felt like both the show and the books stole good ideas from each other but for the most part the storylines were different.
I cannot go into the plot of this one because it would contain too many spoilers; especially for book seven (Dexter’s Final Cut) as this takes place directly after those events. I liked that this novel took up after the last novel, bringing together a much larger plot; I want more crime novels to have an overarching plot line. I do not read many series, and I think the Dexter series is the only one I have spent so much time in, but I really enjoyed returning to such a great character.
Jeff Lindsay’s writing is not that strong and I felt there were many times where this book and series just got clunky or too clichéd. However because the protagonist was so well developed, this helped carry the bad writing. I am pleased to say Dexter is Dead is one of the stronger novels in the series and helped end everything on a high note. Also the ending of the book series is so much better than the ending of the TV show. I am going to miss the Dexter books and might have to find another crime series to replace the void it has left. Suggestions welcome.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/mystery/dexter-is-dead/
While I liked the case this time (since we know who DIDN'T do it), there was too much Brian and not enough Deborah and Dexter really became the worst. But it had a good ending. And I felt like it was very fast-paced.
Well.... that's the end, I guess. Huh. What do I read now when I want a likable, funny, murderous character who uses alliteration like it's going out of style?
So, at least Dexter's unfeeling character is back after making some seriously out of character, and really stupid decisions in the last book. Don't get me wrong, he seemed very uncharacteristically stupid in this book too, but just not as observant as usual. Seriously, Dex, I had it figured out 80 pages before you did. Whatever happened to listening to your Dark Passenger and going with your gut? Didn't do much of that this book, and it certainly costs him.
As much as I rag on him for being decidedly dense, and the fact I feel this book was written in a rush so that the author could just wipe his hands of a book series that got ahead of itself, I did feel the ending was appropriate. Look in the comments for more of my review on the end of the book. There will be spoilers.
So, at least Dexter's unfeeling character is back after making some seriously out of character, and really stupid decisions in the last book. Don't get me wrong, he seemed very uncharacteristically stupid in this book too, but just not as observant as usual. Seriously, Dex, I had it figured out 80 pages before you did. Whatever happened to listening to your Dark Passenger and going with your gut? Didn't do much of that this book, and it certainly costs him.
As much as I rag on him for being decidedly dense, and the fact I feel this book was written in a rush so that the author could just wipe his hands of a book series that got ahead of itself, I did feel the ending was appropriate. Look in the comments for more of my review on the end of the book. There will be spoilers.