CBS put Dexter on last year, and I got hooked. But this year it looks like it will only be on SHO, which I don't get, so these books really help fill the gap. I know what the characters look like and it's as good as watching the program on TV! Maybe better.

Overall, I enjoyed Jeff Lindsay's first two Dexter novels and the tv show on Showtime.

SKIP THIS NOVEL!!!

I should have listened to the other Amazon reviews. If this book was not in the Dexter series, it may have been interesting (on its own). Compared to the other two Dexter books, the pace is slow and the material is relatively boring.

Dexter's character becomes everything he never was for an unexplained super phenomenon mumbo jumbo plot.

Even after all is revealed, it still doesn't make any logical sense of what is really going on or what "IT" is.

The worst part of this book was that it took me two full weeks to read it, as opposed to the two days it took me to read the other two intriguing Dexter novels.

Bottom Line: This book and story are original. The ideas portrayed in the book do not live up to the high standard of any other Dexter work thus far. Hopefully, the fourth novel, due out in Feb. '09 will not follow the ideas or tame storylines of this novel.

This book in the Dexter series takes a different approach than the other 2 books. I read a lot of the reviews here, and I was almost tempted not to bother listening to the audio book version I had. However, its a great read and it delves into Dexter - who he is, why he is the way he is, and what is important to him personally. This book isn't nearly as amazing or exciting as the first book, however it is well worth the read. You learn more about Dexter while he examines his life, his Dark Passenger, and his future. Yes, it was different in many ways than the first two novels, but then again, there are only so many pages that can be written about murder and stalking. If you're a dearly devoted Dexter fan, you will not want to miss this book.

I enjoyed this book as much as the other two in the series, I am not sure why so many are so up set with this one. I like Dexter alot however I can not say the same for his sister Deb. She is so bitchy in the books I like her on the show much better. As for Astor she is a brat and I would love to see her get a few timeouts. Other then those few things GREAT BOOK! Keep it up and I can hardly wait for book number four.

I love the TV show so I decide to try out the books. They have been the best books I've read in a long time! I read them in one sitting because I can't put them down!

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the first Dexter book. The second was a bit disturbing but still made me laugh out loud more than once. I read both after having seen the TV series on Network. Was really excited about getting this book. Was terribly disappointed. IT was stupid. IT was lame. Sigh. Sorry Jeff Lindsay I really enjoyed the first 2 books. I doubt I will read this one again though. FYI I have the first 2 seasons of the show on DVD and really enjoyed them too! HIGHLY RECOMMEND the series and the first 2 Dexter books. Just not this one.

Im glad to know that i am not the only one who thinks that Jeff Lindsay may have destroyed the whole character of Dexter with this book. He takes Dexter's Dark Passenger, Which could have been easily explaned by his phcycotic mind, or a split personalty (which is what I thought as I read the first two books) and turned it into a a supernatural force from a three thousand year old mythological God.
Jeff Lindsay should have stayed on track along with his first two books. Instead he inserts a sort of science fiction which throws this book way off base. I regret having read this book, because it has distorted my image of Dexter in even the first two books.
I think that if Lindsay wants a good reaction of His fourth book Dexter By Design, he should forget all about the fact he ever wrote this book and get back on track with the first two.

Oh my god. I won't rehash the plot of this novel. Other reviewers have done it very well. Not only did the stupid idea of a god from pre-history warrant a 0 star rating but there are a few other things that really bothered me that haven't been mentioned.

1. We all know, after reading the first two books, that Miami traffic is horrible. Please STOP mentioning it every time someone gets in a car.

2. Why is Deb employed?? She can't figure anything out on her own. For that matter, why hasn't someone shot her? She is a miserable woman. Lighten up!

3. Why would anyone marry Rita? She went from being an interesting character coming out of an abusive relationship to being a cartoon of a person that embodies every silly "girly" quality one can have. Also, she just lets it drop that her kids almost disembolwed a cat? Nice mom.

4. Why is Doakes alive? Mr. Lindsay, if you read these, please take a cue from the show and kill this guy...He has no hands and no feet and no tongue. What can you possibly do with him except type CLUMP 20+ times in a book.

The Dexter concept was/is great. I am not sure how you can rectify this mess, but you have one more shot from me...and it sounds like quite a number of other fans..

This darkly funny book is the third Dexter book. Written by Jeff Lindsay, it features the serial killer/blood spatter expert Dexter. Dexter finds killers and dispatches them according to the `Harry Code," but this time Dexter is the prey. Somehow he has come to the notice of an evil that makes his Dark Passenger flee in fear. Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he doesn't like it.

Add a looming wedding, a tyrannical caterer and his soon-to-be step children who want to learn the ropes of being serial killers from Dexter-and his life is overwhelmingly full. As his life falls apart, Dexter muses about whether this is the lot of all humans. Though he describes himself as an artificial human, in this novel he becomes more and more real, much to his despair.

I found most of the characters interesting, especially the would-be killer children. There were a couple of appearances by Sergeant Doakes that didn't add much to the book unless you are familiar with him and the relationship between Doakes and Dexter from the previous novels. This is the only weakness in Dexter in the Dark -if you haven't read the previous books some of the situations and dialog will leave you in the Dark. I found that the Dark Passenger left so early in the story that I didn't have any idea of what the normal interaction between it and Dexter was, so I didn't really know what he was missing.

So my suggestion is this. Go and read the first two books, then come back and thoroughly enjoy this twisted tale of the likable serial killer named Dexter.

Armchair Interviews agrees: Best read in order in this well-done series.

Poorly written, sub-Anne Rice dog turd. Please don't make the mistake of stepping in it.

The series on Shotime has been great, because they more or less, stuck to the book(s). However, let's hope they don't in the upcoming season. If you like Dexter and liked the two previous books (the first being better then the second), DON'T read this one. The author put a twist on this ongoing story that ruined it for me, and will probably ruin it for you, too.

I am a huge Dexter fan. If you are discovering Dexter because of the TV show, you will be pleasantly surprised as the books do differ in the plot than the TV show!
Dexter is the serial killer you root for, as he tracks down really bad guys and disposes of them in a way the police cannot

The Dexter television show and books seem to show the same characters, but in their own realities. It's best to consider this latest Dexter book as an alternate universe, or perhaps a Dexter dream, rather than try to piece it together with the Dexter we've come to...er...appreciate. Nothing would be lost if Jeff Lindsay would just pick up the Dexter saga where book two left off, just like the book and TV show ignore each other's realities.

What was Jeff Lindsay thinking when he wrote this? Dexter's Dark Passenger has something to do with an ancient god? I kept waiting for the curtain to be pulled back and have some twisted but plausible explanation for what was happening to Dexter. But ancient gods? That's asking a bit too much. A definite downturn in the series, I hope it's just a stumble and Jeff returns to his original form.

Lindsay has made a wrong turn here. Monotonous and boring. One plot line unconvincing and not believable.
This effort crumbles when held up against the 1st 2 books. Maybe T.V. series is taking to much of his time.
I hope he bounces back. This character is too good.

There really isn't much to say in this review that hasn't already been said before. The supernatural aspect introduced in this book is highly contradictory to the first two and makes the book ooze a sort of over-the-top weirdness that makes the entire thing so implausible that it's hard to really get into.

On top of that, I simply found the book to be incredibly boring. Dexter is only followed through one kill early on, and then the rest of the book revolves around him having anxiety attacks. There is such an extensive build-up of what can only be assumed was meant as suspense (and an overly-complex plot with the Watchers and Moloch), that when everything ties up so rapidly in the last twenty pages that it's all incredibly anti-climactic. Deborah's character was reduced to mindless incompetence, Doakes was completely dismissed, Vince was turned into even more of an abnormal joke, and Angel-no-relation was almost entirely absent. Everything that made the first two books shine with brilliance is either diluted or simply missing from this book. With the exception of reading it simply for chronological purposes, I can't recommend this book to anyone expecting the same standards of the first two.