Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
I have to admit frustration with the ending. If you haven't started it yet, wait until the next book comes out before you do to save your sanity. I knew this last season of the TV show was the last and so when I read the title of the book, I was scared they were both done and decided to wait until after watching the last episode to read. I'm glad I did. I won't give out any spoilers, but it's definitely an intense ending and shows a lot of depth to the Dexter we book readers know. There is no way Mr. Lindsay can end it like this. I'm waiting sir.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was much better than the previous entries to the series, but it's still a long way from the amazing things that this was promising since book one.
An awesome prelude to the end of Dexter and one of the best in the series.
I love the Dexter books, but this one felt more like Jeff Lindsay placating Dexter for no longer having his tv show. In this installment Dexter is starstruck. "Hired" to protect the star of a new tv show, Dexter decides the luxury life is one he can get used to. But first he must protect his star, Jackie Forrest, from the stalker determined to kill her. The story isn't quite as "Dexter" as I'm used to from the previous novels. Lindsay seems more concerned with detailing the life of a tv show than arousing the Dark Passenger.
I don't do spoilers, and you won't get one here. There are moments that are pure Dexter; but then there are moments that feel overdrawn. I had to fight the urge to skip through pages to get to the point of the thing.
But it was as always entertaining. Dexter's insights about himself get a rough going over in this installment. He has to rethink everything he thinks he is and everything he thinks other people think he is.
I don't do spoilers, and you won't get one here. There are moments that are pure Dexter; but then there are moments that feel overdrawn. I had to fight the urge to skip through pages to get to the point of the thing.
But it was as always entertaining. Dexter's insights about himself get a rough going over in this installment. He has to rethink everything he thinks he is and everything he thinks other people think he is.
I don't know for sure if this is the last book in this series, but I am very disappointed with the ending. Dexter all of a sudden is experiencing emotions, attachments, and longing for a life that is not his dark pasttime??? This book really thru me threw a loop.
Surprisingly better than I anticipated. Giving Dexter more humanistic characteristics of selfishness and love was not what I was expecting. I figured out the twist at the end fairly quickly though I was hoping for a bit more corruption of Astor and her miserable angsty, bitchy tween. My only real complaint was reading a book that leaves you hanging. Really? You're going to make me whine for the next book now JL?
Plot:
While the idea of show business being involved in Dexter's life was intriguing at first, this plot was very slow moving until the climax. It felt like a lot of the book was just filler on stuff that the reader could already figure out without Dexter having to spoon feed it to us.
While Dexter is at his core a selfish person, he goes way beyond that in this book. I felt awful for Rita. I was hoping that after the last book, Dexter would become closer to the kids but they were only used as a plot device. Most of the story featured Dexter and his affair, which was just boring (and maddening) to me.
Setting:
The glamorous setting and the movie shooting scenes were interesting, but not my favorite.
Characters:
While Dexter is a selfish, arrogant, unfeeling "monster", I liked the idea of him slowly developing feelings like in the last few books. He even seemed to be feeling some fondness toward Rita and her kids. In this book, they become annoyances that he wants to drop instead. He even feels this way toward his own child, who was "the light of his life" when she was born! All for an affair with a rich actress and a life of luxury.
Dexter says something in the beginning about how Hollywood changes people and it's obvious he isn't immune. He finds himself loving the attention of Jackie's fans and even thinks of becoming an actor himself. It just didn't feel very genuine given the last few books and his dedication to his "rules." He basically breaks all the rules in this one, even when it comes to his playmate. He turned into a completely different character. I could understand him maybe becoming enamored by Jackie but to seriously think of just dumping his family, career, everything he's worked for after knowing this woman for a couple of weeks? I didn't buy it. Sorry.
I do find it interesting (and sad) that he manages to make a mess of things with Rita in the books as well as the show. Though I think I prefer the show's ending of Rita because at least he wasn't going to abandon his family outright.
I did not like Robert, Jackie, Cathy, ANY of the Hollywood people. I also did not see why Dexter fell so hard for Jackie. She seemed very shallow and as selfish as he was. She also came across as being very melodramatic. There were a few times where I liked things she'd said or done but overall, I did not like her a as a character at all.
And poor Rita, damn I felt sorry for her! Dexter's constant critiquing of her got on my nerves, especially when he saw her as nothing but a "good cook" and his thought of her dying was "oh no there goes all those delicious recipes and my disguise", and silently harping on how she is aging. Yeah, she was probably aging because she had to take care of three kids and a man-child called Dexter?
I really wish that Rita would have put her foot down and screamed at him or something instead of figuring out something before darling Dexter and dying for it. I found it hard to believe that Dexter felt no emotion at all about it, nor did Astor. I'm not even a huge Rita fan and the way Dexter and Astor treated her made me angry.
Vince's character became a "gay" joke in this book as well, which I really did not care for.
And I don't blame Deborah for wanting nothing to do with Dexter once she finds out about his affair with Jackie. Go Debs!
Astor was a selfish brat in this one. She seriously thought Robert loved her and was willing to let her mother and Dexter die to be with him? WTF?
Relationships:
I think I've already summed up how much I did not like Dexter and Jackie's relationship, or the remains of him and Rita. That poor woman.
I didn't like any of the relationships in this book.
Writing/Voice:
I enjoy Lindsay's writing and he has a great voice as Dexter but it felt like a lot of stuff in here was filler, stuff we already knew but Dexter brought it out to overthink it again and again. Dexter also felt slightly off as a character. It almost felt like the author wasn't sure how to start wrapping up the series so he went crazy with it.
Ending:
Not a fan. Also, where were Cody and Lily Anne during all of this? Day care? Seems Cody is a little old for that, but okay. Just felt like a plot hole. I didn't mind Jackie dying and while Rita's death was unexpected, it also made me angry because of all the crap Dexter put her through.
Overall, I liked this better than the third book but I have the feeling the finale of the series isn't going to be of my taste. I guess after the disappointing show finale, I was hoping Dexter would go out better in this one and this is not the direction I saw or hoped for. I feel like if it hadn't been for the affair and the griping about the kids and wife he seemed fine with for years that I would have liked this one better. 2.5 but I'll round to 3 to be generous.
"This was the forever show in Dexterland, and tickets and tickets were nonrefundable and one-way only."
By the time Jeff Lindsay got to this, the seventh book in his Dexter series (not to be confused with the TV show, which, as we have discussed, is very different), the books were beginning to fall into a bit of a rut. The killers Dexter finds himself coming up against are pretty consistently fiendishly creative visions on the part of Lindsay, but geez, it feels like suddenly every book needs to end with one or more of the children getting kidnapped and placed in mortal danger. I understand that Dexter's stepchildren, Astor and Cody, play a bigger role here than they do on the TV show, but it really is too much. It makes you long for a day when dear, devilish Dexter can face down a villain on his own.
This installment promises to be different, which was a thrilling prospect for me ...
Full review on my blog
By the time Jeff Lindsay got to this, the seventh book in his Dexter series (not to be confused with the TV show, which, as we have discussed, is very different), the books were beginning to fall into a bit of a rut. The killers Dexter finds himself coming up against are pretty consistently fiendishly creative visions on the part of Lindsay, but geez, it feels like suddenly every book needs to end with one or more of the children getting kidnapped and placed in mortal danger. I understand that Dexter's stepchildren, Astor and Cody, play a bigger role here than they do on the TV show, but it really is too much. It makes you long for a day when dear, devilish Dexter can face down a villain on his own.
This installment promises to be different, which was a thrilling prospect for me ...
Full review on my blog
Another Dexter audiobook -- thankfully the books are holding up better than the TV show did.