Darkly Dreaming Dexter is my favourite kind of book...a free one! Received as a mystery gift from a book club I approached this crime/thriller with some trepidation. It was by Jeff Lindsay, a new author I had never heard of in a genre I find rarely engages.

Luckily for me this is not your typical crime/thriller (if it had been I would not have got halfway). This is largely down to the main protagonist of the novel Dexter. This dark anti-hero is a Blood Analyst for the Police and serial killer. Fortunately, he only kills what his Uncle Harry called " The Bad People".

Dexter becomes fascinated when; another serial killer announces himself to his hometown of Miami by leaving a dismembered body in rubbish bags. Who is this killer whose style is so similar to Dexter's own?

Although set in Miami this novel reads very much like a British thriller. Largely similar to James Herbert's early work, although not particularly gruesome, Lindsay spends little time on long periods of characterisation. Many characters are stereotypical and formulaic to the genre including the hard nosed, cynical cop and even the corrupt Priest. As a result Lindsay comes perilously close to "thriller by numbers" territory.

Fortunately, Lindsay saves us from this with his prolonged characterisation of our anti-hero. At least three quarters of the novel is constructed around delving into his scarred psyche in order to explain his actions. Questions like, Why does Dexter have no emotions and what pivotal event led him to a life were his "dark passenger" must be satiated? Are all addressed in a series of flashbacks and in Dexter's own actions.

Like any great crime novel there are clues along the way for both the reader and our anti-hero to follow. But, it wouldn't be a thriller if there were not a good few twists and turns along the way and on this front Lindsay excels providing both an imaginative and original ending.

If this was a film review I would this had a great script, excellent lead, but poor supporting cast. As a novel its' pace is frantic with short, sharp chapters throughout. The action comes thick and fast only broken by the occasional flashback from Dexter.

Shorter than most novels of this kind at a mere 289 pages, it is a change to read something fresh from a promising new author who has yet to become bogged down with the convoluted plot of say...a Koontz or Rankin novel. This author is certainly one I will be looking out for in the future and Darkly Dreaming Dexter is the best 0 pence I ever spent!

ISBN: 038551123X

Recommended: Yes