Dexter's Final Cut: Dexter Morgan (7) (Dexter Series)

Collected this whole series. Convenient to find it on amazon. Arrived with no damage.

After the frankly terrible 6th book, the 7th was really quite fun to read. The series is starting to feel a bit like the original series Star Trek Movies -- are the odds good, the evens bad? Who knows?! But at least in book seven the awful, excruciating, "Witness" plot of book six is a thing of the past, and we have Dexter thrown into a Hollywood production (Lindsay is pretty hard on the whole TV pilot process and it makes me wonder if he is taking jabs at whatever his involvement was in the Showtime production). <spoilers ahead> In this book Dexter starts to show us again quite clearly that he is a creep. A lovable creep to his fans, but a creep nonetheless. And I'm relieved, as that's exactly what he's supposed to be. He has no reluctance to leave his wife, home and family, and when the woman he wants to leave them for is murdered, he feels sorry for himself, not her. Dexter is pretty bone-headed about a few things in this book. This is not the first time it's happened in the series, but our lovable creep can also be pretty darned stupid. From my perspective as a fangirl it is a bit unpleasant to be confronted with that stupidity. Being a creep is one thing, but being a moron? That's something else. Dexter is also quite heartless about Rita. The heartlessness is painfully brutal. Even his sweet little baby daughter is mainly just a way to cast his DNA into the future. Indeed, this is a vastly different Dexter than the one in the last few books since Lilly Ann was born, when it seemed he was maybe, just maybe, becoming a bit more "human." It's a good story with the normal dry humor we have come to expect (you know, I would love to adopt Dexter's positive and productive attitude about driving!), and thankfully Deb has a very minor role. So this book is mostly about our serial-killing, paranoid schizophrenic, adulterous anti-hero. And I like that. He's why I read these books. And at least in this book, Lindsay seems to acknowledge that. <really big spoilers ahead> <you have been warned> This is a case of art imitating... art...? Because Rita gets killed at the very end (gosh, what a cliff-hanger) and it is similar to what happens in the Michael C. Hall series in a way... he's there with Rita's body and it looks bad for Dexter. And in fact the only reason it seemed he cared about Rita at all was that she might help with his alibi (and that he'll no longer benefit from her cooking). Regardless, she dies, literally in his arms. And we won't know how bad things are for Dexter until we buy the next book.... And to be honest, I wasn't planning on buying the next book because I think maybe Lindsay kills off Dexter in it (if I am to believe what I have written about it), and I don't want him deaded. I hate it when authors and TV shows kill off beloved characters, and I avoid such things whenever possible. What a conundrum!

Like all books in the series -- with the exception of the third -- I found it very hard to put down the book! I just wanted to hop from chapter to chapter, eager to find out what's going to happen next. The plot and characters were a little predictable, but nevertheless they still left you wondering. Dexter's relationship with Jackie was intense, although it was disappointing at how he just couldn't care less about Rita. That was something completely unexpected from Dexter; nevertheless, it was interesting to see how and what he would do throughout that short-lived, intense, physical relationship. Dare I say it, but I'd wished if Jackie were still alive and for Dexter to 'run off' with her. I personally felt that the relationship he shared with her was more sincere than that he ever had with Rita -- RIP Rita & Jackie! The ending threw Dexter back into square one, but with 3 kids and possibly jail time? Poor Dexter. Feet deep in hot water. Eagerly waiting for the 8th book to fix this mess and throw Dexter back on his feet.

"Deeply Disappointing Dexter" would have made for a more appropriate title, in my opinion. Without providing spoilers, I felt like this seventh installment in the Dexter series provided us with a Dexter unlike we've seen before. He was not cool, calm, or collected through most of the story and was instead lead by emotion, fantasy, and disillusion which is very unlike the Dexter we have come to know throughout the series. The only consistent piece found within this series was Lindsay's decision to have the villain of the story use the kids as a plot device to string Dexter along, which I think at this point has been a little overused. I appreciate Lindsay's attempt at making changes to a story readers will already recognize; however I think the changes need to be made to the events and story, not the main character. As a constant reader, I enjoy reading the story from Dexter's perspective and one thing I've always enjoyed is that Dexter, for the most part, is a predictable and simple creature. Knowing what to expect from Dexter makes the story exciting to see what situations he will end up in and seeing him wrapped in a mystery. With "Final Cut" Lindsay has altered Dexter's core being, making him seem more 'human' than he's ever been and he has used some of the same plot devices that we've already seen in other books. As a side note, I think if Lindsay would've focused more on a better story and new plot devices rather than Dexter's witty comments it may have turned out a little better. There were many times where it felt like Lindsay probably spent more time trying to think of Dexter's clever response rather than the story as it unfolded. Also, I feel like it's finally worth saying that Lindsay has not fully utilized the story arc of guiding Rita's kids down the "dark path." He touched on it in earlier books and always left the reader wondering how far he would go, but at this point being seven books in I find it a little disappointing that he has not ventured into this darker, unexplored territory. The only redeeming quality of "Dexter's Final Cut" is that it ended with a cliffhanger, so maybe the next book will bring us back to the Dexter we all know and love. Pros: a decent cliffhanger. Cons: you're more eager to be done with the book rather than to find out who the identity of the "mystery killer" Bottom line: still worth a read for fans of the series, just don't get your hopes up

On retrouve dexter qui s'essaye au cinéma avec sa nouvelle protégée. Le livre est plein de rebondissements et de surprises, je l'ai lu presque d'une traite. A ne pas rater si vous avez lu les précédents !

Really enjoyed it, but picked it up and read it to the exclusion of everything else so finished it a bit quickly. Not as Dark as some of the others, but then perhaps we are seeing shades of grey emerging in Dexty as a character. If you have read the others - recommended.

love the humour in Jeff Lindsay's books..

Great read!!

Der siebte Band der Reihe hat ein bisschen was interessantes an sich, wenn man bedenkt, dass Dexter einem Schauspieler helfen soll, einen Forensiker darzustellen, weil sie eine Serie über einen und dessen Schwester drehen wollen. :D Story wurde gut aufgebaut und auch wenn Dexter etwas abdreht, sind die Wendungen wieder sehr gut platziert.