Anyone who likes mysteries knows that among the different sub-genre of mysteries (police procedurals, medical examiner mysteries, hard-boiled P.I.’s, etc.) are special group of crime novels from the point of view of homicidal maniacs, killers, and people who know they are bad but just can’t seem to stop themselves. The most famous would probably be Jim Thompson’s THE KILLER INSIDE ME, and there’s Lawrence Block’s HIT MAN series, and I’m currently listening on my iPod to DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, which is about a serial killer who only kills other serial killers, and which is way better a read/listen then it has any right to be.

I had watched one episode of the Showtime series DEXTER, based on this book, and found it interesting but kind of implausible (as well as icky) that there were so many serial killers out there. Somehow I ended up giving the book a try, and I must say it is very compelling and interesting, mostly because the book (and honor binds me to say I first read this comment in The Times), while not shying away from the gross murder angle, is really best as a comedy of manners, wherebye a character who admits he has no human qualities (because he is, you know, a psychotic sociopath) observes the world around him (downtown Miami, which sounds awesome, especially the Cuban sandwiches) and comments on it from his own skewed perspective. He tries to understand the social, political, and romantic interactions of the people around him who he would just as well murder in cold blood as share a donut with, and that’s what makes it entertaining.

It’s got some not-so-good writing (“She stared at me–hard”), and some of that glossy-serial-killer-cadaver-porn that I do not care for (but we’re not supposed to care because he’s, you know, the good serial murderer), but the police procedural stuff is also very interesting and realistic. So I’d recommend it.

There’s another book in the series that just came out, and I must say that I’d probably be inclined to read it, unlike, say, the HIT MAN books, where I stopped after the second book as I started wondering “Why am I reading about the adventures of a remorseless murderer? What about these people getting murdered?” Why? Because he’s funny. And perceptive. And you learn a lot about Miami and police work. And because DEXTER is, you know, the positive role model sociopathic murderer…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 10:38 am and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.