This is the sixth novel in the popular
Dexter Morgan series.
The main character and narrator of this series is Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who lives a secret life as a vigilante serial killer.
Dexter follows a strict code of conduct taught to him by his adoptive father, Harry Morgan: he only hunts other killers, those who have slipped through the cracks of
justice and are sure to strike again.
The sixth book in this series opens with Dexter enjoying some of his special "play-time" with a truly despicable character: a
serial child-killer named Steve Valentine.
All is going quite well for Dexter as he finishes with Valentine, until he hears a gasp from behind him.
He turns just in time to see someone running out the door of the abandoned house where he had been conducting his dastardly business: Dexter has been caught in the act - there is a witness to his crime.
Dexter is gripped with a strange new
feeling: cold dread.
To make matters worse, his attempts to track down his witness produce no results; his witness remains beyond his grasp.
The situation become even more serious when the witness makes contact with him and reveals that he does not intend to turn Dexter in to the police. Much worse than that, this witness plans to exact a brutal, Dexter-like revenge on Dexter himself.
And to Dexter's horror, it may be quite possible for his witness to do just that, as the witness has somehow learned Dexter's identity. Now, Dexter finds the tables reversed, as a cold-blooded killer stalks and taunts him, promising vengeance but leaving Dexter to agonize over the questions when? and how?
To Dexter's dismay, he finds himself completely unable to handle this problem with his usual proficiency.
Dexter worries that domestic life and new fatherhood have made him soft, throwing him off his game and making him unable to gain an advantage over his stalker.
Dexter seems to have lost his edge and fears that he is becoming just another sad and vulnerable human, at the mercy of the monster that hunts him.
Will Dexter's newfound humanity be his undoing, or will he somehow manage to regain the upper-hand and turn his predator into his prey?
Double Dexter is a thrilling page-turner that will not disappoint fans of this series.
While definitely not for the faint of heart, the Dexter Morgan series is a great read for anyone who enjoys the crime-thriller genre.
Those who have not yet read any of the Dexter books may wish to start with the first book in the series: Darkly Dreaming Dexter.
-- Reviwed by Teresa DeReis,
reader's advisory assistant at the
Prince George Public Library
