Tag: Dexter

Dexter is Dead by Jeff Lindsay

Posted November 25, 2015 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: Dexter Is Dead (Goodreads)
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Series: Dexter #8
Published: Orion, 2015
Pages: 286
My Copy: Library Book

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

When I first started reading back in 2009, one of the series I became obsessed with was the Dexter Morgan series. I loved the concept of an anti-hero as the protagonist and Jeff Lindsay had come up with a good concept of a forensic analyst/sociopath. I liked exploring the mind of a killer but not just any sociopath; Dexter had a code, he could not control his urge to kill but he made it his mission to only hunt the people that deserved to die. We can talk about the moral complexities at great length but now I want to review Dexter is Dead.

This is the eighth and final book in the Dexter Morgan series; the books were a bit hit or miss but Dexter was a great character. Most people know of Dexter Morgan from the hit TV show Dexter, the character is the same but after the first book and season the two mediums took different directions. There are plenty of times where it felt like both the show and the books stole good ideas from each other but for the most part the storylines were different.

I cannot go into the plot of this one because it would contain too many spoilers; especially for book seven (Dexter’s Final Cut) as this takes place directly after those events. I liked that this novel took up after the last novel, bringing together a much larger plot; I want more crime novels to have an overarching plot line. I do not read many series, and I think the Dexter series is the only one I have spent so much time in, but I really enjoyed returning to such a great character.

Jeff Lindsay’s writing is not that strong and I felt there were many times where this book and series just got clunky or too clichéd. However because the protagonist was so well developed, this helped carry the bad writing. I am pleased to say Dexter is Dead is one of the stronger novels in the series and helped end everything on a high note. Also the ending of the book series is so much better than the ending of the TV show. I am going to miss the Dexter books and might have to find another crime series to replace the void it has left. Suggestions welcome.

Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsay

Posted September 18, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Crime / 0 Comments

Title: Dexter's Final Cut (Goodreads)
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Series: Dexter #7
Published: Orion, 2013
Pages: 384
Genres: Crime
My Copy: ARC from Edelweiss

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Hollywood has made a deal with the Miami Police Department to help them research a new TV show. Star Robert Chase has been shadowing Dexter Morgan to learn how to be a forensic analyst. This will put a dampener on Dexter’s nighttime activities. Camera shy and hunting down one of the worst killers who escape the justice system, and now a movie star watching his every move, how will he manage?

I’ve been a big fan of the Dexter series; both the TV shows and the books. I want to say they are like a guilty read but I don’t feel guilty at all. Darkly Dreamy Dexter was one of the first books I read when I first became a reader and one of the few series that I’ve read in its entirety. I do enjoy crime novels and love the way Jeff Lindsay gets into the mind of this sociopath.

Dexter is back in the seventh book in the series and while I love the series, the books have been rocky, some are really enjoyable and some just fell a little short. Dexter’s Final Cut was luckily one of the stronger books in the series. I really liked the way this book focused less on the hunting and killing but more on Dexter as a character.

If you’ve read any of the Dexter series or watched the show you will know that Dexter struggles to pretend to be human and at times he gets really good at it. In Dexter’s Final Cut they spotlight is on Dexter in a big way and the struggle becomes the most important part of the novel. His social interactions, his marriage and his work have all been watched carefully by star Robert Chase and possibly the paparazzi.

I like this new direction, it works really well for this type of novel but if I judge by the title of this book, it might be the last one in the series (I hope not). I love the internal monologue of this series and how light and entertaining they are, if this is the last in the series I will need something to replace it so I am open to suggestions. Dexter Morgan is a well-developed character and the series has always been witty and entertaining but this would have to be one of my favourites in the series so far.

My Spring Reading List

Posted September 5, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in What are you Reading / 0 Comments

In July, I wrote a blog post talking about my reading list for the Winter; I might not have read all those books but I did enjoy writing about the books I was looking forward to reading. So I thought I might do it again now that Spring is here (or Autumn/Fall for the people on the other side of the world). Out of the five books I mentioned the only book I didn’t get to was Constance by Patrick McGrath but I read on a whim and while I enjoy this, it means it is impossible to plan in advance. However, I like to join in on the conversation and talk about the books I’m excited to read.

Dexter’s Final Cut by Jeff Lindsey

I’m a fan of the Dexter series; I’ve read all the books so far and am a supporter of the TV adaptation as well. Dexter is back and now Hollywood has got him involved in helping them shoot a TV pilot. When the star, Robert Chase loses himself in his character his obsessions soon turn to Dexter. This will put a real damper on Dexter’s night-time hobbies.

The Last Winter of Dani Lancing by P.D. Viner

A new psychological thriller in the tradition of Before I Go to Sleep and Memento, P.D. Viner’s debut is looking like it might be an interesting read. Twenty years ago, college student Dani Lancing was kidnapped and brutally murdered, the killer was never found and the case is now cold. Her parents’ marriage fell apart as a result of it, but now a new lead has been found and rekindles an obsession for revenge.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

Nathaniel Piven is a rising star in the Brooklyn literary scene, after several years of learning he now has his pick of assignments and women. Debut novelist Adelle Waldman plunges into the psyche of the modern man and offers up a literary romance that is both intelligent and witty. I hope this book is a novel of struggles, discovery and anxiety that comes with romance and the literary scene.

Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams

Bobby Dollar is back, ready to advocate for the souls of humanity. When his demon girlfriend is taken by a great evil, this angel will go to hell to save her. The Bobby Dollar series is shaping up to be a great Noir/Urban Fantasy series; while I’ve not read this book yet I think it is very promising. Can an angel survive hell and can Tad Williams pull off another great Bobby Dollar novel; I hope to find out this season.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Sixteen-year-old Nao decides she wants to escape the loneliness and bullying of her classmates. But before she ends it all she decides to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun. Across the pacific Ruth finds some artifacts washed ashore from the 2011 tsunami that pulls her into Nao’s drama. Ozeki explores relationships, the past and present, fact and fiction in this contemporary novel.

There are many other new novels I want to get to and there are so many older ones I want to read as well but these five I hope get read sometime soon. I know planning isn’t really my strong suit but I do try. I would love to know if you have any books planned, I’m sure most people have a TBR full of books waiting for them but let me know if you are going to be organised and what you will read this Spring/Fall.

Miami Blues by Charlies Williford

Posted August 27, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Pulp / 0 Comments

Title: Miami Blues (Goodreads)
Author: Charlies Williford
Series: Hoke Moseley #1
Published: Penguin, 1984
Pages: 284
Genres: Pulp
My Copy: Paperback

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

After landing in Miami, Freddy Frenger Jr. (or Junior as he prefers to be called) steals three wallets and begins to plan his new life. While leaving the airport he snatches a suitcase and leaves a corpse of a Hare Krishna behind. Detective Hoke Moseley is on the case; chasing Junior and his new hooker girlfriend through luxury hotels and the suburban streets of Miami.

If this sounds really familiar then you’ve probably seen the 1990 movie of the same name starring Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh. While there are some major differences to the two, the majority of the book is exactly the same. I’m a little disappointed when I found out this was the first in the Hoke Moseley series, because I always thought of the detective as a supporting role. In the movie Junior steals Moseley’s badge and starts pretending to be a cop to con people; this was the best part of the movie. Sadly in the book there isn’t much of that going on.

Charlies Williford is an author of fiction, poetry, an autobiography, and literary criticism but he is best known for his hard-boiled writing. I think it is weird that he was a poet and literary critic as well as pulp writer, but then again I really shouldn’t be. It’s just an interesting fact about the author. When you think 1980’s hard-boiled novels, Miami Blues is probably going to be one of the top nominations on that list. Charlies Williford was such a prolific writer, with over forty novels published, it is kind of sad that he is best known for the Hoke Moseley series that he wrote very late in his life. I wonder what some of his other books were like, there seems to be a whole lot of hard-boiled novels in the 1950’s and 1960’s that look interesting.

This book is an example of the noir sub-genre Florida glare which is basically a crime novel set in Florida where the heat and the culture play a role in the story as well. Noir is typically associated to LA and there have been some writers out there that wanted to depict Florida as the perfect location for crime stories as well. Some examples of this include the Travis McGee (by John D. MacDonald), Jack Ryan (by Elmore Leonard), and Dexter Morgan (by Jeff Lindsay) series and I’m sure many more. It is an interesting concept though do we really need another genre? I like how the heat of Florida plays a part in the book and the environment is almost like a supporting character.

This was a quick read and one of the rare cases where I think I prefer the movie over the book. I wonder if there are any more noir novels where a character pretends to be a cop in order to con people; I’m sure there are plenty out there, I like the concept and would like to read more of them. I think I’ll have to try another Charlies Williford, maybe something earlier. Does anyone want to recommend me a good Charlies Williford novel?

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Posted July 25, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Science Fiction, Thriller / 9 Comments

Title: The Shining Girls (Goodreads)
Author: Lauren Beukes
Published: Harper Collins, 2013
Pages: 389
Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

During the depression era, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens onto other times. But it comes at a cost, he has to hunt down and kill all the shining girls; those bright girls burning with potential. He stalks them through the different ages, leaving clues on their bodies. But when one of the girls doesn’t die she starts to hunt him. Can Kirby Mazrachi track down this time-traveling serial killer before it’s too late?

Right off the bat, a time traveling serial killer was enough to sell me on this book, it sounded unique and familiar all at the same time. I started reading this book instead of reading the novel I needed to read for book club (which is And the Mountains Echoed) as a way of procrastinating and simply because I wanted something light and entertaining while I wasn’t feeling too well. I flew through this novel and while it was dark, twisted and often graphic, I still felt like it missed something.

I like my serial killers to have an inner conflict; the inner turmoil of Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, the dark passenger of Dexter in the Dexter series (and TV show) and if you’ve seen Mr Brooks, the guy in the back seat (played by William Hunt). I love the psychological elements that are found in these examples and this is what I look for in a novel about serial killers. I want to know their motivations, their convictions, the struggle between good and evil within each one of them and when I didn’t get that in The Shinning Girls, I was disappointed by that.

Then again I love how graphic this book is; there is a real thrill to read the macabre and Lauren Beukes doesn’t hold back in the book. While the author doesn’t go into too much detail about the time travelling mechanics, when someone asked me if the time travelling elements were believable in the book I had to stop and think. Firstly can time traveling be believable? Then I spent time thinking about the different theories around time traveling and going back and forth in time, never really seemed to alter the future at all. Why didn’t Harper just go back to the same day and finish Kirby off? Or even a different day? There are so many questions that are left to the imagination and nothing about time travelling was ever be truly explored. You know what? I think I prefer it that way, there are too many theories regarding time travel, I think it was best to leave it up the reader to draw their own conclusions about some of the plot. I don’t like it when everything is wrapped up neatly and every thread within a novel is covered off. I want something left to my imagination, I want to form my own ideas and I want to question the book in the end.

I think Lauren Beukes made a conscious effort not to fill in all the gaps; there are so many questions, backstory and motivations that could have been filled in but leaving that all up to the imagination of the reader just worked better for this book. It also can set up for possible sequels and spin offs. This means when Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way and MRC brought the rights to make this into a TV series (even before the book was released in America) I think Beukes decision paid off. With all those lose threads, it give the TV adaptation room to move and vary from the book if needed (in order to set up a few seasons). Adaptations are tricky and I’m often against them but with a book like The Shining Girls, I think they have a good foundation to work with and expand without upsetting too many of the diehard fans.

The Shinning Girls is far from perfect; there are things I would have liked to see done differently but this was pure entertainment and the fact that there are a slight literary quality about it helped as well. I’m curious to see what happens with the TV show and I’ll be sure to watch it if it ever makes it to air but in the meantime, this is a Science Fiction/Thriller that I’m happy to recommend to people. There is a lot to think about and it is one hell of a read.

Question Tuesday: An Excellent Book That You Would Never Have Chosen, e.g. a Gift, but Read by Default

Posted July 17, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Question Tuesday / 0 Comments

I’d like to say that there isn’t any book that I won’t read if it was recommended to me but there are books that I’ve put off reading but really need to get around to reading. My wife has been my biggest supporter; even before I became a reader she was encouraging me to read and to improve myself. I love her for that. One of the first books I read when I started out as a reader in 2009 was one of the books she gave me, which was Jeff Lindsay’s first book in the Dexter Morgan series; Darkly Dreaming Dexter. She knew that I loved the TV series and she helped use that as a good way to get me into reading. I did end up loving the series and is one of the few series that I’ve actually read all the books in it. But she has given me other books, which I’m still to read; mainly Confessions by Augustine of Hippo but the reason I’ve been putting it off because I have so many great books to read and I haven’t felt drawn to the book yet. I think if I read the book I might enjoy it, he seems to have had an interesting life and I’m interested in the internal struggle of a man between good and evil. There really isn’t a good excuse for not reading it. I should really read it sometime soon. I would love to hear from others if they want to answer this question also.

Reading Cycles

Posted June 3, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

Have you ever noticed that you read in cycles? I have; I’ve found that I tend to get entrenched with an author at times but most of the time it with genres. While I like to say I read anything and everything, I know this is not true. I do find it interesting to look over my reading history and see just how it progresses.

I’ve said it before and most people already know that I only started reading in the middle of 2009 and while it was a slow start I gradually got better and better at reading that now I’m aiming for 100 books a year. While I would like to talk about reading challenges sometime in the future, for now I want to look at my reading cycle. I call it a cycle because I know that eventually I will go back to these genres and immerse myself with them again and again.

While I often just read on a whim, when I do an overall look at my reading habits the cycle looks like this;

Classics – My reading started with Frankenstein and I read a lot of classics as a way to catch up on the book I’ve missed out on. At the same time I was also trying to catch up on the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsey.
1001 Books to Read Before You Die – when I discovered this list of books, I set out to read books from this list as a good way to try out genres and styles with the knowledge that the books must be good because they made the 1001 list.
Sci-Fi – I’m not sure why I moved onto Sci-Fi, but there were so many books that looked interesting in this genre that it felt like the natural progression.
Mystery – I have a love for the macabre and crime that it wasn’t much of a surprise that I begin reading a lot of books in this genre.
Hard-Boiled/Noir – I finally found the style and genre in the mystery/crime genre that I like the most. Hard-Boiled and Noir will always have a special place in my heart. I love the era and the style of these novels.
YA – I started trying out YA because of this blog post about What is Wrong with Dark YA Novels and during the time I found my favourite YA author John Green, which meant I needed to read all of his novels (still have one to read) plus other novels that are supposedly similar to his writing style.
Literary Fiction – I often wonder if this was a result of my book blog or just because I wanted to read something with a little more literary merit after reading so much YA. But now it feels like I’m reading so many literary novels.

I don’t know where my reading will go from here but feel free to make a prediction. I’m happy to let my reading take me where ever it wants to go. I’m happy with where it has taken me so far. I would love to know if other people have reading cycles and what they are.