REVIEW + GIVEWAY: Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay

Dexter Morgan, blood spatter analyst for the Miami PD and leader of a secret life as a serial killer of other killers, is back in this 5^th installment in the series which spawned the popular series on Showtime. Dexter is adjusting to life as a married man, stepdad and father to newborn Lily Anne. He is conflicted internally-should he give up the escapades with his “dark passenger” and try to live a normal life? Can he deny who he really is for the sake of Rita and the kids? As Dexter tries to figure this out, strange happenings are occurring in Miami. Two young girls have gone missing. Dexter and his sister, Sergeant Deborah Morgan, follow the trail which leads to a dark twisted underworld of vampires. Things take an even more sinister turn as one of the girls is found murdered in a grisly manner. Meanwhile, Deb struggles with the realization that her career isn’t enough anymore and she desperately wants a family and a face from Dexter’s past resurfaces to causing havoc in his life and Dex must decide if this is a good thing or not.

Like the other books, this one features the same cast of characters as the Showtime series but has a completely different storyline. Also like both the other books and the series this one has the dark under current and witty writing style that make them a pleasure to read. You wouldn’t think that you could go darker than a serial killer who hunts down other killers but you can! Just add vampires and cannibalism (yes, cannibalism…). I wasn’t quite sure of this conflicted Dexter, especially with the opening of the book where he is gazing down at his new bundle of joy and decides to try and turn over a new leaf but Dexter dealing with the struggle of whether to ditch his Dark Passenger grew on me as the book progressed. What didn’t grow on me quite as much was Deb’s struggle with being jealous of her brother and wanting a family. It just seemed out of character for her to go all soft. Also I really liked the return of the unexpected visitor and trying to figure out whether the intentions toward Dexter and the family were noble or not. As for the vampire/cannibal plot, I did not see the twist with the missing girl coming or with who was really responsible for the disappearances. I like being surprised with books like these and Lindsay never disappoints in that respect.

One thing that I personally do not like authors to do (as it dates the book and stands the chance of alienating audience members who either do not like it or have lived under a rock and never heard of it) are pop culture references. This one had more than a few mentions of the Twilight series. Ok. I get it. Twilight is popular and it kind of fits in with the vampire them and whatnot but we could have had the vampires in there without the Twilight. Other than that one little bump in the road for me I really enjoyed this novel and I will be looking forward to seeing Dexter evolve further in the next installment.

I received this book from the Publisher as a Goodreads giveaway

I am giving away my ARC of Dexter is Delicious. To enter, simply leave a comment with your email address. Winner will be chosen on 30 September.