I have read a lot of bad reviews of the Dexter books, especially after the third one, and honestly I feel like most people simply do not understand what Jeff Lindsay was going for. I can make the case that the first seven books are directly tied to the seven deadly sins, with the eighth being the judgment. Little things stand out, like Rita saying “We have never been to Key West together yet” in the sixth book. I also believe Lindsay wanted to go deeper into the occult world after book three but the publisher shut that down. In book seven it feels like Jackie is based on real life Julie Benz and becomes his expose on Hollywood, right down to making Dexter an extra just like Lindsay himself was on the show. As for this book in particular, I did find it a little slow to start, but the ending is FAR SUPERIOR TO THE SHOW. This story actually ends instead of repeating the endless cycle of the kill of the week and the kill the big bad, rinse and repeat, which WILL CONTINUE until Michael C Hall decides he is done. The show completely botched Rita, the kids, Deb, Brian, and Doakes, and made LaGuerta and Batista way too important. It became more about climbing the Miami PD political ladder than telling a good story. Back then I only ever watched the seventh season and gave up. This summer I went back and watched all eight seasons, read the two comic series, and listened to all eight books, finishing on October 1 which was the nineteenth anniversary of when the show first aired. That was not even planned. Books seven and eight do feel like Lindsay lost some steam, but in the end it makes sense. The way it all closes is beautiful and fitting, and the books as a whole give a complete story that the show never achieved. The show went from drama and shock value to what I call Days of Our Dexter, because the soap opera writers made it into a soap opera instead of the story it should have been. I challenge anyone to read or listen with an open mind. This is Dexter telling the story, and it is not what he says, it is what he does. In the end he is there for the kids, no matter how many times he says fatherhood is not for him. I absolutely loved my summer of Dexter and believe these books are brilliant, far more than they are given credit for.

Well, I'll try not to spoil ) I must say I'm a big fan of first three books. The following books were getting somewhat more and more stupid. In this one Dexter became completely dumb. It's especially funny when he constantly repeats that he is so smart and superior, while he actually can not figure out even simplest facts for few chapter. At the same time most of what Dexter is trying to figure out is completely obvious to the reader. But as if to make it even more obvious author repeats the same hints and explanations over and over again, highlighting the important details to such extend that it is getting completely obvious (and even annoying) what role it will play, especially when some of the turns of the plot are the same as in previous books. The jokes are not at all as funny as before. The overall plot and sequence of event is not only quite boring, but also somewhat independent of Dexter, and the entire book we have to listen how he doesn't understand what's going on, that he wants to eat and how he decides to which restaurant to go, and his dull logic to explain the most obvious of actions. At the same time, while we have to enjoy every single thought that passes in Dexter's head, the events in the surrounding world seem to be quite random and completely unexplained. Moreover, great parts of the plot seems not to lead anywhere. Many conversations, events, and characters could be easily removed to make the book twice shorter, without real effect on the plot. And what I'm afraid the most, is that it may not actually be the last book!