Dexter, Dexter, Dexter. Where in the world did your character run off to in this book? For the fourth book in a successful series, I was expecting more of the usual for Dexter. I was not expecting the main character to question everything he did or miss key details that are thrown in. Jeff Lindsay gives Dexter his usual social awkwardness but seems to have taken away most of his common sense.
Dexter is usually so methodical in the research of his victims. In Dexter by Design, Lindsay has him killing on impulse. Dexter doesn't do that. Lindsay has him killing a murder suspect in an open and fresh case. Dexter doesn't do that.
I think that the Showtime series has effected Lindsay's work. I like that the show and book series are different and the same all at once. It gives the story more options. Some people die in the show that don't in the books and vice versa. The plots of the books seem to be running parallel with the plots in the different seasons. The first season of the show was obviously based on the first book, and rightfully so. (Without the book, there would be no show after all.) The second season and the second & third book's main themes meshed together. The third season of the show came out before the fourth book. The fourth book had a lot of the same story elements as the third season of the show. Is Lindsay trying to give the story over to Showtime's writers?
For now I await the fifth book to see if Lindsay has the courage to take back his characters and see where they end up--with or without the studio's influence.
