Darkly Dreaming Dexter: Dexter Morgan (1) (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)Usually when a movie or television show is based on a book, I find the book to be better -- no matter the order I read/watch. Books just tend to be superior. This story appears to be a rare exception. It's okay as a book. Okay enough that I can see why someone would want to turn Dexter into a television show. That said, the characters here are not developed nearly as well. They feel like they're caricatures of the TV show characters.
I don't know what the story behind this book series is/was beyond having read this first one. I don't know if it was always planned as a series or if this started as a potential stand alone book. The characters seem to be handled differently here. LaGuerta especially differs from the tv show (I suppose it's more accurate to say the tv show differs from the books). It's almost as though the author used gender and racial stereotypes, toned them down a little, then just ran with that. This feeling might be a little amplified by the fact that I read this as an audiobook.
The story in this book and season one of the show are very similar. A serial killer is on the loose and Dexter (a serial killer with a code) is intrigued because this other killer is not only technically nearly perfect, he's also tormenting Dexter in other more personal ways.
I don't want to turn people off from the book, but if you haven't read it and have seen the show, you might be slightly disappointed. Personally, I thought it was okay enough that I might continue just to see where it goes as it is obviously to be quite different from the show.
If you're the type that has to read the book and watch the tv show/movie, but haven't done either yet and are curious about Dexter, I'd read the book first. I think that having seen the show first probably harmed my opinion of the book as they really refined all of the characters above and beyond how this book portrayed them.
