In anticipation of the forthcoming new season of the hit television show Dexter, Jordan takes a look back at the origins of the Dark Passenger...
Within every social group there is one person, at least, who's always ready to let fly with recommendations of what you should watch/read/listen to, and I suspect that visitors to Den Of Geek make up something of a hotbed of these people.
You know good stuff, and you know it first.
Take the fabulous American television series, Dexter, for example. You don't need telling that it's been one of the best shows of the past few years, whereas most non-geeks (unenthusiasts?) would be forgiven for having missed it completely.
As you are, no doubt, aware, those poor people were missing out. The book that the series is based on, however, may have slipped the notice of even the most dedicated amongst us.
It will be at about this point that those of you who did miss Dexter will be starting to feel a bit silly. Maybe slightly ashamed. Perhaps you're getting ready to Google "Den of the Sort of People That Changed Their Facebook Profile Picture to Rorschach a Week After the Watchmen Film Came Out to Let People Know That They'd Just Discovered This Cool New Character" to find something more down your street.
But hold on there. Hold your horses. Geekdom isn't a closed shop, and we're here to navigate you through the choppy waters safely to the other side.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is the début novel of playwright and former karate world champion (now that's a CV) Jeff Lindsay, and was the basis for the first season of the TV show. The set-up is thus: vigilante serial killer takes on the scum of Miami, Florida while making sly jokes and scoffing doughnuts.
There are themes present here that are well explored in fiction, in everything from Batman to Taxi Driver, but what Lindsay does differently enough, to set his creation apart, is present us with a protagonist that's so, well, accommodating, that the reader can't help but fall into the role of his accomplice.
The book is written in the first-person perspective, and Dexter makes for a fascinating guide as he takes you around the Miami that's off the tourist trail.
Quick-witted, sly and soulless, Dexter is the baddie you want on your side. Where Travis Bickle was alienating (I hope), Dexter Morgan welcomes you into his life with open arms and a fake smile, escorting you on his sojourns through the joys of serial murder and onto his work as a blood spatter expert for the Miami police. A nice touch.
Stories of vigilante killers, which will be written for as long as there are reasons for people to become angry and disillusioned, can provide uncomfortable reading if supplied by immature minds, dissolving into simple teenage revenge fantasies. Thankfully, Lindsay has avoided this. However, his inexperience as a novelist rears its head in the final third of the book, where loose ends are tied up in double-quick time, but not so quickly as to close off the possibility of a clearly hoped for sequel. He got his wish, and a cracking TV show to boot.
And here we stumble onto the book's fatal problem. Post-2006, the television show is better. It loses nothing while adding a refined plot, wonderful score and superior climax. If you have already seen the show before you read the book, you will be hard-pressed not to hum the fantastic theme tune, picture Michael C. Hall, and wonder if Angel really thinks that a perma-hat hides male pattern baldness.
As has been noted many times elsewhere, the reason that film and television adaptations of a book so often fail to match our expectations is because our imaginations are greater than what can be captured on celluloid or animated by a computer programme. If you've found your way to this site, you're probably somebody who can build an enviably rich and detailed scene with the minimal of support from a writer. Yes, even you with the Rorschach profile pic.
In the case of a book which relies so heavily on a single unique and important aspect, the central character, this stumbling block is much easier to avoid. What was necessary was superb casting, and in Michael C. Hall we have a living, breathing Dexter who has lost nothing in translation. The addition of music, scenery and performance are all ketchup on the side. Or gravy, if you're a gravy person.
If you've seen the show, can't wait for the next season, and you'd like to witness the genesis of your favourite friendly neighbourhood homicidal maniac, you'll have a good time reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Just be prepared to dig out the DVD boxset afterwards for some more satisfying serial killing.
The third season of Dexter will be released on DVD in the UK on 16 August. The fourth season starts on 20 August on FX. And the fifth season starts in the US on 26 September. There's plenty to enjoy...