Protagonist's Paper Progenitor

I've been a fan of the TV series Dexter for some time now, and for most of that time, I've been curious to check out the books on which it was originally based. I finally got around to it, recently finishing the first book of the series, Darkly Dreaming Dexter.

I had been warned in advance that the first season of the series was modeled very closely after this first book. (Only in subsequent seasons/books did the two stories diverge substantially.) Still, I felt compelled to start at the beginning, rather than pick up with a later book. I wanted to get a feel for the author's writing style, and see just how much of what ended up on the screen was there on the page.

In my opinion, the series represented a significant improvement over the original source material. I did like the book, I just felt that the series fleshed everything out in greater detail and to better effect. Part of that is that author Jeff Lindsay has a very minimalist style. He doesn't describe the settings or the characters in any great detail. He's much more enamored with language -- sentence and paragraph structure, use of alliteration, staccato dialogue, and the like.

I was sometimes combing for any little detail to modify my mental image of a character, as opposed to simply picturing the actor who plays him/her on the show. I couldn't do it. The book avoids almost entirely even basic details like hair color or height. For good or ill, a reader might have once felt free to give reign to his imagination; now, it just means you will envision Michael C. Hall and his co-stars.

That said, much of what made the series so great was definitely established in this novel first. The story is told in the first person, from Dexter's point of view. Dexter's ever-present voice-over in the show is absolutely a way to capture this device. The behavior of all the characters, from Deb to Doakes, from Harry to Masuka (here named Masuoka), is all what was brought to the screen.

And yes, the plot is very, very close to what unfolds in the first season of the series. But there are a few key differences, particularly in the final chapters. Mostly, the differences are clearly inspired by the medium. Jeff Lindsay takes a bit of a "burn the house down" approach at the end, the tactics of an author who isn't thinking about what might come in the next book (or season). The makers of the show moved some things around a bit to keep the show going if it were renewed, but finish the season with an unambiguous conclusion.

Indeed, the conclusion of the book has me wondering just what the author did do when faced with the prospect of a follow-up. (Even one, never mind the several he's done.) So yes, I do think I'll be moving on to the next Dexter book in the not too distant future. As for this book? Well, I liked the series better, but I still liked the book well enough. I rate it a B.