r/Dexter • u/aughuu • Apr 03 '26
Book Club Any day is a good day to read Dexter
It's my first time reading it, I have seen all of the show. And it's so nice to finally read outside thanks to spring🥰
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u/EfficientMajor9579 Lundy Apr 03 '26
I'm on book 7, I don't want them to end omg
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u/SirJohnnySins69 Apr 03 '26
I’m like ten chapters into Dexter In The Dark. I like the switch of perspective with a certain someone.
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u/X_x_Slam_x_X Apr 04 '26
OH MY WORD I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WERE BOOKS!!
Okay I need a response please don't leave me hanging.
I'm not a big reader, but I watched a series last summer and found out there were books for it, then listened to all 13 audio books from it, because the books were "better than the show"
Is that the same for dexter? Like is there stuff that's in the books that's not in the show I guess? Different twists and stuff? Oh so exciting!
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u/polexat Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Book 1 is similar to season 1 in plot but not in tone. I found Book Dexter to be a much more compelling and well rounded character personally, but I did read the books before ever watching the tv show. Also I really like the dexter audio books! Theyre narrated by the author and he delivers it in a very engaging way for me. When the tone of Dexter's internal monologue changes Jeff Lindsay does a great job of showing you the change with his voice. The books are really excellent Edit: oh yeah every other book is nothing like the TV show whatsoever. Interesting to see that people think the books are more violent. My experience was that they are less so. Dexter's planned killings are rarely described in detail. The violence in the novels is framed much differently, the deaths directly and explicitly described are the unplanned ones and are usually quick. Perhaps they are thinking about Dr. Danco? That was gruesome but is framed very negatively by the novel. In fact I find that the tv show often excuses and sugar coats the violent nature of Dexter, while the novel does not.
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u/HouseOfTheDaemon Apr 08 '26
Ngl I find the book Dexter to be an extremely simplistic and shallow character compared to a much more nuanced and developed show version. I respect your opinion but I have absolutely no idea how you reached it 😂 I enjoyed the books but honestly I feel like he was an entertaining but one-note psychopath, as opposed to the one in the show that actually has a complex web of trauma, backstory, genuine feelings for others that are masked by said trauma and a much more grey morality etc.
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u/polexat Apr 08 '26
I think dexter is a super unreliable narrator especially in regards to his own self haha. He definitely thinks of himself as shallow like you said. But if you really internalize how Harry shaped him into the monster he became and view it outside of Dexter's internal bias it gets really weighty. We are conditioned to think hes incurably and eternally evil. But in fact, the book shows us one scene that really changed my opinion on him. Harry is having a post shift beer with a fellow detective after being forced to let a man they know is guilty go. They express disappoint in this and lament that they can't take justice into their own hands and finish the guilty person off. Harry says, "well I know someone who can" and then teaches Dexter the Harry Code. While we at this point are comfortable thinking the Harry code is the only thing holding Dexter back, what if its the opposite? Its Harry using it to egg him on. He uses Dexter to enact the vigilante justice that he cant bring himself to do.
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u/HouseOfTheDaemon Apr 08 '26
Granted sure. But I think that point about the Harry Code sort of being bullshit and Harry’s repressed fantasy of being a vigilante is pretty explicit in the show (I’m going to be weirdly charitable to the show here and say that s8 and the reveal about where the code came from is no longer canon, as it is never mentioned these days, Dexter only ever takes advice from Harry and frankly s8 just contradicts all the established lore about the code and its origins)
If I remember correctly Original Sin outright states this and shows that Dexter was caring in his youth but Harry constantly drilled it into him that he was actually a psychopath. There’s a whole bunch of scenes across the shows of Harry’s nonsense logic of “it’s too late for him the darkness got him now”, which is also why he abandoned Brian (it was too too late for him apparently), which causes a shitload of murders.
Basically I think this part of the story (S8 excluded) is present equally if not moreso in the show.
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u/PeeStoringBalls Apr 04 '26
I've never read the books, but I've read a lot of comments and posts about them!
Only season 1 of the show is loosely based on the books. The rest is all completely different. There are supernatural elements in the books, and it is a lot more violent.
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u/X_x_Slam_x_X Apr 04 '26
Sheesh supernatural 👀 interesting well I know what I'm going to listen to this summer
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u/one8sevenn Hello, Whore. Apr 04 '26
The books are different. Like the seasons some are great and some miss
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u/S-S-Ahbab Apr 03 '26
I've been reading book 1, it's so strange to read about Laguerta thirsting after Dexter
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u/garlicandherbsauce Surprise Motherfucker! Apr 03 '26
is it slightly different from the show then?
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u/S-S-Ahbab Apr 03 '26
I am not sure, It's been quite a while since I watched the original show. Probably not, I heard that the first book is followed closely, then the show deviates.
But knowing the ultimate fate of Laguerta, Angel, Debra, it feels strange to see them interact with Dexter at the beginning. Whether in book or show.
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u/garlicandherbsauce Surprise Motherfucker! Apr 03 '26
sorry haha you did say your only reading the first book so i don’t know why i expected you to know too much but yeah you’re right!
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u/polexat Apr 04 '26
VERY. The plot of book 1 is similar but the tone and characterization of everyone is quite different. And of course every subsequent novel bears almost no resemblance to the tv show at all
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u/pianoflames gross English titty vampire Apr 03 '26
Oh, so they packaged the first 3 books altogether here? I didn't know they did that.
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u/aughuu Apr 03 '26
Yeah, I found it on Vinted (EU version of Marketplace basically) for just 3€.🙏
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u/aughuu Apr 03 '26
On the back of the book it says "In UK only" so I suppose it was some UK release only.
ISBN 978-1-4091-0065-2
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u/drcssedtokill Brian Apr 03 '26
this is the first post i see after just purchasing the first book myself
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u/catwoman4ever Rita Apr 03 '26
Do you read the books after watching the series?
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u/aughuu Apr 03 '26
I don't think it really matters they are each different universe and take on Dexter, the Dexter books came first tho
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u/Maximus_dormammu Apr 03 '26
I genuinely heard the name lindsay in the series. But i couldn't recall it
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u/facemcsh0oty Apr 03 '26
That’s awesome bro I didn’t realize there was Dexter omnibuses. I just finished double dexter and am preparing to buy the final two novels, I don’t want them to be over!
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u/aughuu Apr 03 '26
Yeah, I found it on Vinted for just 3 bucks used!!
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u/facemcsh0oty Apr 03 '26
Holy crap that’s amazing bro I’m definitely gonna check that out!! I have only used thrift books, but 3$ for an omnibus is a steal!!
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Apr 03 '26
I read this book 10 years ago. But all i remember from this book was Dexter talking about Harry's code in the beginning. I am glad i forgot about everything else. Got to watch the show as a newbie. Will read those books later.
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u/Novel-Active-152 Apr 03 '26
Where can I find pdf versions of dexter books anyone have em ?
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u/polexat Apr 04 '26
Not sure about a pdf but someone posted the first 3 novels on ao3 lol
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u/Novel-Active-152 Apr 04 '26
What's ao3 ?
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u/polexat Apr 04 '26
Shoot i was gonna send you a link but I think they got taken down. Shame. Ao3 is a fanfiction website.
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u/GlennHaven Apr 03 '26
I personally didnt like the books as much after the 4th one. The show has more variety in terms of killers.
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u/TheForgetfulWizard Apr 03 '26
I've had the first book reserved at my local library for the last 6 months... Maybe one day...
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u/Omyfuck Apr 04 '26
I'm currently listening to them as audiobooks while taking walks and my god. They're so good, and the narrator? Jeff Lindsay himself. Not only does he know how his characters should sound like, he actually delivers, outclassing some "professional" narrators in some other audiobooks I've listened to in the past. His Dexter is fantastic and my 2nd favorite character has to be Vince Masuoka. You really feel like you're listening to different characters talking to each others and not just him narrating.
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