Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Darkly Dreaming Dexter 
by Jeff Lindsey
Read by Jeff Lindsey
Published by Recorded Books
Released July 2004
Purchased through audible.com







From Goodreads: 

 Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likeable: he only kills bad people. And his job as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts him in the perfect position to identify his victims. But when a series of brutal murders bearing a striking similarity to his own style start turning up, Dexter is caught between being flattered and being frightened–of himself or some other fiend. 

 My Thoughts:

I haven't been a die hard follower of the Showtime Series only because I don't want to pay for it. But I did really like what I saw and so I sought out the books. I listed to the first one and I have to say I was kinda disappointed. It wasn't horrible, but I don't know that I could recommend it to anyone. There was just something about the POV that I had trouble getting into, and much the way I wanted to slap the 'inner goddess' in 50 Shades of Grey, I was tired of 'the dark passenger' in this book. I may go on to listen to the second book later to see if they get better. But I won't be in a hurry.

Review: Blood on the Pen

Blood on the Pen
by David Huffstetler
Released August 2010
Published by Wild Child Publishing
Purchased

From Goodreads:

Someone is killing literary agents, and Jack Harden’s only reason to live is to find the killer. This modern-day Texas Ranger is haunted by his wife’s death a year ago and the urge to kill the drunk driver who took her, or kill himself. Enter Elsie Rodriguez, the young reporter assigned to the murders for her newspaper and ordered to stay with Jack Harden. He’s old school, tough, and doesn’t want her there. Theirs is a complex, often stormy relationship, but the big Ranger triggers something inside her, something more than her Latin temper. They weave their way from the busy streets of Dallas to the River Walk in San Antonio, across the Hill Country, and to the limestone caverns of Sonora in a desperate chase.

Can she pull Jack from the edge of sanity, back to the living? Or will it end with a psychopath taking two more lives and living to write about it?

My Thoughts:

I was pretty excited to read this book. I know the author's wife through my mom. She talked with us about how weird it was that her husband could write these murder mysteries so well. I think she may have even used the word "disturbing". I was immediately intrigued and absolutely had to read it. I love a good thriller and if there are segments from the villain's point of view it's even better.

A man ready to end his life sits down the gun to solve one more case, and it just may be the one that makes him feel like life is worth living. Jack Harden is a very troubled Texas Ranger looking for an even more troubled murderer. Someone is killing literary agent, by the book.

This was a very interesting read and I wasn't disappointed at all with the purchase. It went by quick and I really enjoyed it. If you like a good thriller with an end that surprises this is a book for you.

Review of The Surgeon

The Surgeon
by Tess Gerritsen
Published by Ballentine Books
Released June 2009


From Goodreads:


In her most masterful novel of medical suspense, New York Timesbestselling author Tess Gerritsen creates a villain of unforgettable evil--and the one woman who can catch him before he kills again.

He slips into their homes at night and walks silently into bedrooms where women lie sleeping, unaware of the horrors they soon will endure. The precision of the killer's methods suggests he is a deranged man of medicine, propelling the Boston newspapers and the frightened public to name him "The Surgeon."

The cops' only clue rests with another surgeon, the victim of a nearly identical crime. Two years ago, Dr. Catherine Cordell fought back and killed her attacker before he could complete his assault. Now she hides her fears of intimacy behind a cool and elegant exterior and a well-earned reputation as a top trauma surgeon.

Cordell's careful facade is about to crack as this new killer recreates, with chilling accuracy, the details of Cordell's own ordeal. With every new murder he seems to be taunting her, cutting ever closer, from her hospital to her home. Her only comfort comes from Thomas Moore, the detective assigned to the case. But even Moore cannot protect Cordell from a brilliant hunter who somehow understands--and savors--the secret fears of every woman he kills.

Filled with the authentic detail that is the trademark of this doctor turned author . . . and peopled with rich and complex characters--from the ER to the squad room to the city morgue--here is a thriller of unprecedented depth and suspense. Exposing the shocking link between those who kill and cure, punish and protect, The Surgeon is Tess Gerritsen's most exciting accomplishment yet.


My Thoughts:


I'm one of those, "Oh I love that show!" girls on this one. I had no idea that the TV show was based on a series of novels and I fell in love with it first. So of course I had to go back and see what the books were all about!


I really enjoyed this book. It was a great crime novel. Ms. Gerritsen does a really good job with the character development and the dynamics between all of the different players. It is very suspenseful, I enjoy the excerpts that come from the POV of the killer. 


It was interesting as someone who watches the TV show to see the things that they changed to make it easier for a series. I love Rizzoli though. I keep picturing Angie Harmon only shorter and a little rounder. 


I was disappointed that Maura Isles wasn't in this book. I'm gathering from other reviews that she is introduced later. I really enjoyed this book though. I can't wait to move through the rest of the series! 


I give it 4 cups!