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    Dexter in the Dark
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    Dexter in the Dark
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    Dexter in the Dark
    Audiobook10 hours

    Dexter in the Dark

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "One of the most likable vigilante serial killers" (The New Yorker) faces his ultimate adversary…an evil so terrifying it scares away Dexter's inner monster-and nearly dries up his sense of humor-in this wickedly witty, darkly suspenseful novel.

    In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is accustomed to seeing evil deeds…particularly because, on occasion, he rather enjoys committing them himself. Guided by his Dark Passenger (the reptilian voice inside him), he lives his outwardly normal life adhering to one simple rule: he kills only very bad people. Dexter slides through life undetected, working as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, helping his fiancé raise her two adorable (if somewhat…unique) children, and always planning his next jaunt as Dexter the Dark Avenger under the light of the full moon.

    But then everything changes. Dexter is called to a crime scene that seems routine: a gruesome double homicide at the university campus, which Dexter would normally investigate with gusto, before enjoying a savory lunch. And yet this scene feels terribly wrong. Dexter's Dark Passenger senses something it recognizes, something utterly chilling, and the Passenger-mastermind of Dexter's homicidal prowess-promptly goes into hiding.

    With his Passenger on the run, Dexter is left to face this case all alone-not to mention his demanding sister (Sergeant Deborah), his frantic fiancée (Rita), and the most frightening wedding caterer ever to plan a menu. Equally unsettling, Dexter begins to realize that something very dark and very powerful has its sights set on him. Dexter is left in the dark, but he must summon his sharpest investigative instincts not only to pursue his enemy, but to locate and truly understand his Dark Passenger. To find him, Dexter has to research the questions he's never dared ask: Who is the Dark Passenger, and where does he come from? It is nothing less than a search for Dexter's own dark soul…fueled by a steady supply of fresh doughnuts.

    Macabre, ironic, and wonderfully entertaining, Dexter in the Dark goes deeper into the psyche of one of the freshest protagonists in recent fiction. Jeff Lindsay's glorious creativity is on full display in his most accomplished novel yet.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 16, 2013
    ISBN9780804128940
    Unavailable
    Dexter in the Dark

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    Reviews for Dexter in the Dark

    3.5/5

    819 ratings71 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This one is good but not my favorite so far. It adds a more supernatural element to the story, which I wasn't fond of. Also, the ending just seemed to come way to quick. Overall, not bad but not great either.
    • 5/5
      This is the best book so far. I love the way the author is developing Dexter and the Dark Passenger...and we can't forget the kids!
    • 4/5
      This book was interesting but very dark and distributing. The killings are described in great detail and some might be put off by that. It also has a lot of dry humor which many students would not get. I had a number of students ask about the story while I was reading it and some seemed interested in it as a result I could see it in a school library but only for very mature students who can handle the grimness of the story. I read this novel online and I found that I still prefer the hard copy but at some point I know I will have to change. The theme of this story is remaining true to yourself even in times of crisis.
    • 4/5
      Deliciously dark diversion!
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: Dexter is going to marry Rita if he can last through all of the wedding preparations. However, in his private life, his Dark Passenger has disappeared and this leaves him completely disconcerted. There seems to be a single serial killer on the loose, but finding him is proving problematic since his description changes with every witness. Dexter wonders if it could be something supernatural.Review: A bit spooky with allusions to demons and to King Solomon. It's also an interesting look at the interactions between Dexter and Cody who we find has the same Dark Passenger as Dexter.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed this, but not as much as the first two. I thought there was too much of an element of supernatural in this with the whole thing about Moloch. I was rather hoping that maybe someone was discreetly slipping Dexter a hallucinogenic to inspire the weird dreams and hear the music. But I did enjoy the return of Doakes, who still manages quite a degree of menace.
    • 2/5
      I enjoyed the first Dexter books quite a bit -- the irreverent monster of a "hero", the meticulous detail, the coldness, the non-emotional view of human life. Lindsay apparently got a little sick of all that careful craftsmanship and had to drag in some supernatural stupidity. Feh. The lack of continuity and downright contradiction of the world built in the first two novels made this one a very weak addition to the series.
    • 3/5
      These novels are always entertaining. The mystery/thriller element to this novel kept me more invested in than the previous installments. That said, I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. For an easy to devour afternoon read, this novel works well. While I was left with a kind of empty feeling, I will probably read the next novel.
    • 3/5
      A little weirder than the first two dexter books, a bit hard to follow in some parts.
    • 4/5
      A good addition to the series. Leaves the question of Moloch hanging, though. Can't wait to see how he handles Cody and Astor - you really don't want them going into the world untaught....
    • 2/5
      This book was a let down in a series I've been loving so far. Apparently I don't like Dexter without his passenger, he was so whiney and introspective that that book just seemed to drag on.
    • 4/5
      Dexter finds himself abandonned by his 'Dark Passenger' for the first time in his life, and doesn't know how to react. Another threat lies with another 'Passenger', while he is supposed to 'teach' the children in the Harry code - expect more investigations, murders, and invisible threats! This is a good thriller for people wanting to learn more about Dexter and his 'Dark Passenger' (which appears to be more of a separate entity than an inner personae).
    • 2/5
      The Dexter concept is interesting and makes for fun reading, but this third book in the series is a bit of a disappointment. The supernatural was already present in the previous books, but not enough to become irritating, but in this one, it plays a major part and it does not work for me. The personality of Dexter was an essential part of the fun of the books, and here, by losing his Dark Passanger, Dexter loses his attraction and becomes a nagging narcistic victim. Everything turns out all right in the end, but I think this is where the series stops as far as I'm concerned.
    • 4/5
      Yes, calling it "paranormal" not "thriller." Read this one just as the Dexter TV show finished its fifth season. A few of the scenes in this book have been done in the show, kind of cool. Some of the plot points in the book haven't happened on TV, kind of confusing. Can/Do picture the TV actors who play the parts, kind of enjoyable. Read this same time I read "Egyptologist." Liked this one a little bit better.
    • 3/5
      Liked it alright, but the whole demon thing really got to be too much. I don't like the direction this particular installment took. Hopefully it'll get better by #4.
    • 3/5
      Well, trudging along.... I'm going to hang in there. This Dexter had so many elements that the show didn't. And yes, this is the book. This is the holy grail for the T.V. series. But, I find the series surpasses these mediocre books. This is all I'm going to say really as there is so many differences in story lines between show and book that I don't want to spoil anything. I'm not trying to beat myself with a dead horse, but I'm going to continue on with the series because I do still find the writing and translating to screen interesting.
    • 2/5
      I've been reading, and enjoying, the Dexter series of books. That is, I was, until Dexter in the Dark. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot for those that may disagree with me, but my problem with the book lies entirely with the supernatural direction it went right from the first few pages of the book. It didn't feel right, and it seems to lessen the overall impact of the book.I will say, that Dexter #4 leaves this unfortunate twist behind. If you fall into the same camp as myself I encourage you to power through, it does pick up again.
    • 4/5
      Typical Dexter plot/writing. The story drags on a bit longer than the first two books - more time was spent on a more complex sort of mystery and a lot more Dexter self-exploration.It did get a bit "supernatural" which I didn't really mind, though it sort of changes the genre from a mystery-thriller to a horror-thriller.Around the 2/3 mark it got a bit too philosophical - to the point where Dexter acted out of character and obvious "clues" that would solve the mystery were ignored by him so he could wax on about the nature of his Dark Passenger. At this point we get a half dozen "scenes" where the story stops its forward momentum so we can hear a bit more about some demon-like things.Anyway, it was pretty good, if you don't get frustrated with Dexter being a dumb weakling for half the book.
    • 3/5
      Decent but ultimately uncompelling Dexter novel. Dexter is back, but his Dark Passenger is missing. A new force has crept into his life that seems to absorb his thoughts. And he's learning more about Astor and Cody's true personalities. I hope the next book is more similar to the first two. I found too much of this book to be unbelievable and over the top. Get back to the root of the Dexter series - a serial killer masquerading as a normal guy.
    • 3/5
      Jeff Lindsay's third novel in the Dexter series is not my favorite. And while I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, I will say it dragged in a way the previous two did not for me.Dexter in the Dark finds Dexter in the throws of planning a wedding. With Rita running around like a whirlwind, Vince insisting on difficult and expensive caterers, and Dexter trying to fumble his way through it all, it's no wonder Dexter is having trouble sneaking time for his Dark Passenger. Unfortunately a confusing new killer and a weird incident at a crime scene leave Dexter Dark Passenger less, quite alone in the world and singularly adrift. How can someone who defines himself by an inner voice, exist without it? And for that matter, where did it come from in the first place that it could just skitter off ?I had heard one of the books got a bit esoteric and mystical, but still I was confused by the sudden biblical/demonic turn Dexter in the Dark took. Instead of dealing with a flesh and blood serial killer, as per the previous books, there were lengthy inner chats about possession, King Solomon and the possibility Dexter would suddenly be normal. My issue with it, outside of the fact it was a mite boring, was where was the crime in my crime novel? I mean there were murders but it wasn't about the crime so much as the history lesson.It was a shame because the wedding fodder was terrific, Manny the Caterer provided significant entertainment (how was Rita going to make this work? Maybe she'd only invite 2 or 3 people), as did the progression with Cody and Astor and the return of the seriously creepy Doakes. It was set up to be a great novel, until Lindsay and Dexter got lost contemplating what exactly comes over people to make them serial killers (come on, it sounds interesting right? but two hundred pages of rambling thought about it got tedious).I have total faith Jeff Lindsay brings us back to classic Dexter by book four so I'm not throwing in the towel over one slightly boring story. And I'm still looking forward to the September 7th release of book 5, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to skip this particular book if you're about to start your own Dexter reading marathon. It doesn't seem to cover any critical ground so I'm pretty sure you can move on to book 4 without any problems.I'm just saying.
    • 3/5
      While reading this, there was a part of me that was wondering if I was being overly harsh with the plot because Showtime has done such a phenomenal job with the adaptation. And then I remembered that a huge portion of my library has been made into movies, television shows and plays and that I've long since learned to respect such things as separate entities enjoying or disliking things on their own merits. Long story short, I was really trying to give Jeff Lindsay whatever is more than the benefit of the doubt for producing a horrible installment in his Dexter series.I'd love to say this is about Dexter, but it isn't. At every turn, we find Dexter being forced to do something by someone else - his co-worker and best man convince him to use a celebrity caterer for his wedding (do not ask me how a forensics blood spatter expert will ever afford $250-$500/plate), his soon-to-be step children are demanding serial killer lessons, his sister is using him as an expert profiler and we discover that his one talent is no longer home for business because it is also its own entity. So our dangerous Dexter never really needed the lessons of his father - Lindsay spends an entire book showing us that just about anyone can boss our dear Dexter around at will. Note to potential Dexter victims: don't beg for help, whine or cry. Just DEMAND that he let you go, ask him to take your cat to the vet and send him on some random errands if you want to live. The murder mystery is an excuse to introduce an ancient god, a potential source of Dexter's powers and Cody's ability to read evil auras, but I'm already making it sound far more interesting than it really was. I know that there are more books in the series, but at this point, I think I'll stick with the cable series. There's a reason the book clearly states on the cover, the killer character that inspired the hit Showtime original Series Dexter. The superior storylines and a much better Dexter are living in high definition now.
    • 3/5
      I'd heard that this book was absolutely terrible, but I was determined to read the complete Dexter series, especially since I'm going into a little withdrawal since the television series hasn't even started taping new episodes for the fifth season yet. Although the book wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, it still wasn't very good. The book has a whole lot of buildup for relatively nothing. The event that took nearly three hundred pages to build up to only took about fifteen pages at the most and wrapped up too tidily for my tastes. The ending felt rushed to me, while most of the book felt rather plodding. There is no intriguing serial killer for Dexter to find; instead, his Dark Passenger has seemingly deserted him, which puts Dexter off his game and on the bench for most of the book. And I can only read so many descriptions of Miami traffic before wishing that something, anything, interesting would happen.The idea of Dexter mentoring Astor and Cody in the way of Harry is very interesting, and I wish that there had been more of that in the book. But with Dexter's "shadow" missing, he's more focused on getting it back and making sense of what is going on, and ignoring his soon-to-be step-children and their dark urges. I really don't like the idea of Dexter's Dark Passenger being supernatural in origin rather than psychological. He suffered an extremely traumatic event as a young boy; surely that should be enough to explain why he's a sociopath, without the need to relying on some biblical yarn about the god Moloch and his "children." If Lindsay had skipped all of the supernatural mumbo-jumbo and had focused instead on the psychological aspects of the Dark Passenger in this novel, I think the story would have been a much better one.Still, the book was an okay read, and I'll be sticking around to read the next book. This story may have been a clunker, but so was the third season of the television series (in my opinion), and the fourth season was really good. Here's hoping that the fourth book will also be good.
    • 1/5
      Rarely, if ever, has a television show taken it's source material and expanded on it in any meaningful way. The Showtime series Dexter, in it's first season, pulled material from the first two Dexter novels to fashion an inspired story line that surpassed it's print counterpart in every way. This was remarkable because the Dexter novels were quite good to begin with. It is fortunate for all of us that this book was unavailable to the producers of the program. Lindsay has morphed his creation from a decadent premise soaked in intrigue and unique morality plays and turned it into a cheap supernatural thriller. Dexter finds his "dark passenger" missing, cowering from some unknown and unseen force. The metaphor of his urge to kill becomes personified as some other being or force living within him and the premise falls to pieces. What was a valiant struggle of a basic good steering an insidious evil is now a ghost story. The novel fleshes out its new found hokeyness with a fiendish secret society and archetypal villain straight from a comic book.I noticed that another sequel has been released since this train wreck but the magic has been lost for me.
    • 3/5
      Although I'd added it to my "never read again" shelf I probably will but only because I'll be reading the others and it's part of the series.This third book is a bit of a let down. There is a narrative going on in the back ground that is awful and really brings a whole new meaning to the book but not in a good way.Personally I found this one disappointing and more like a story from a computer game rather than the Dexter I've come to know and love.
    • 3/5
      In the third novel of Jeff Lindsay's series, the lovable and witty serial killer, Dexter Morgan, finds himself in a period of self examination as he tries to understand the darkness within. This novel deviates a bit from the first two books in the series and regrettably the author decided to focus too much on personifying the "dark passenger". I will not say much more on that subject as continuing down that thread will inevitably lead to spoilers galore. The story was decent, but I felt that the author struggled to find content once Dexter was, for lack of better words, "in the dark". However, there is intriguing foreshadowing brewing for the books to come and I will pick up the fourth before I write this series off.
    • 2/5
      In the end, Dexter leaps over a large predatory fish wearing only Speedos and a pair of waterskis.
    • 4/5
      Another fine read. So far, book 2 is my favorite Dexter book. This one added some elements to Dexter's universe that I'm not thrilled with (but won't list as they are spoilery). Weird because they are generally my cuppa tea, but here I would rather they were absent. Still the writing remains top notch, the elements don't ruin things totally :-), and the book is a fun read.
    • 5/5
      The best Dexter book yet. Aside from the super-natural aspect, the book spent the majority of the time on character development. Dexter, Cody and Astor are really the focal point of this outing and not Dexter's hobby which was a little refreshing.
    • 3/5
      The supernatural aspect of Lindsay's third Dexter tale is a little hard to swallow. The cynic wit and awesome wordsmithing are still here (I'm a sucker for alliteration), but there's also this tie-in side story about some sort of dark god that controls killers. Didn't really buy in to that part...I kept hoping that maybe it was going to turn out that Dexter was starting to lose his grip on reality like a real delusional serial killer would, but got left with this Molak supernatural thing.I think I would have been more accepting of the plot if it wasn't put in to the Dexter universe...supernatural events and serial killers just don't seem like good bedfellows.
    • 4/5
      This is where TV and Book Dexter totally diverge (not that there weren't different to begin with). Though I can say that several plot twists will not be to everyone's taste, I can't argue that they weren't foreshadowed in previous books. But that's just the plot. The gore and the dark wit are still there to enjoy.