The Dark Passenger

[ebonlock]

I liked it, indeed I liked it a lot. The Dex in the book is a bit edgier than the guy we see on tv, his wit just a little more dry and sardonic, and getting to spend the entire time in his head rather than just the occasional voiceover is really nice. And the author had me from the get-go, I believed in his Dexter and wanted to see where the character was going to take me.

That is, until we got to the end where it all went to hell. If I thought the end of season 2 was a bit of a cheat, it was nothing compared to the disappointment I felt in the novel. We get to the confrontation in the box car between Dex and his long lost brother and the intensity is building. Dex is unraveling in the face of his horrific past and Deb is awake and aware of it all, especially that Dexter really does want to kill her. And then there's LaGuerta stumbling in to confuse the issue even more and just when it all comes to a head...the chapter ends.

Suddenly we're at a funeral and the author teases the audience a bit trying to make you think it might be for Deb, but no, she's right there holding Dex's hand, apparently just fine and comfy with her serial killer brother. Brian's escaped to go slaughter women elsewhere, LaGuerta's dead and Doakes is suspicious as hell and not a single goddamn loose end is tied up. What about the video of Dexter's look-a-like brother dumping the bodies at the hockey rink? The fact that the boxcar would be traceable a) to the killer and b) to Dexter because that's where he was discovered so many years ago. How did Brian get away and Dexter free Deb? How was LaGuerta's body found?

I could go on, but you get the point. I don't often say this but the tv series handled the story way better than the novel did. Even the second series which was way more wobbly and contrived worked better than this. I'm annoyed, deeply annoyed and uncertain as to whether I want to read the second novel at this point. I've been told to avoid the third at all costs as it spins off into metaphysics and that's just not where I want this story to go at all.

Comments

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

GRRR yes I completely agree. I think the first book is so, so brilliant until that very last chapter, like maybe he was under a deadline and had to come up with something Right Quick. I liked seeing Dex unravelling, but that's not a substitute for actually wrapping up all those loose ends you just talked about.

The second book, I think, is actually better constructed than the first. Because the new villain isn't connected to Dex himself, Dex keeps his head, and somehow so does the author, and things actually END.

The third book is... yeah. Fucking weird. It has a lot of good points, like Dex's relationship with the kids (did anyone tell you about this stuff yet? where the kids get schooled in the Harry Code?), and the main plot is actually really interesting, but it goes WAY over the edge in terms of supernatural shit, which makes me uncomfortable at best, angry at worst.

But apparently the fourth book is going to be, like the second, more action-oriented and plot-driven than that third. So yay for that. I'm still trying to sneak a peek at the outline that's apparently floating around the office... but everyone's being so secretive.... :)

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

I'll give the second a go then, but I think I may have to skip the third. And yeah I'd talked to my friend M- about what happens with the kids and I thought that was mildly interesting, but the demon stuff...um, yeah. To me some of the interest in the series comes down to the question is Dex what he is because of Harry's Code or in spite of it. Would he really have turned into a serial killer without Harry's blessing? Was it inevitable? I liked how the second season toyed along the edges of this, though Dexter never really lets himself think that he has an option to killing. Not really, and I'd like to see him do it at least once.

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I love how ambiguous the Harry relationship is -- and I really really hope they're not done exploring that. I know Dex says that he's done asking all the "Am I good or evil?" questions... but there are a LOT of ways that Harry can still be explored without rehashing that old ground.

Personally, I would love to read a speculative fanfic about what might have happened if Harry had taken a different path with Dex. What if he'd never told little Dex to lie to the therapist? What if he'd actually gotten help at a young age?

Or, perhaps more interesting... when Dex kills the pimp and Harry walks in on him, what if he doesn't commit suicide three days later? What if, instead, he actually takes responsibility for his role in Dexter's life, admits he was wrong all along (or wrong to allow Dexter to TORTURE his victims, at least), and tries to set him on a more virtuous path? Ohhh, the AU possibilities. :)

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

the second novel is better - I found the first so simply underwritten it could not even come close to the series.