Friday, July 24, 2009

Dexter by Design

From Singles 2009


'First things first' has always been my motto, mostly because it makes absolutely no sense- after all, if first things were second or third, they wouldn't be first things, would they?


Let's see, I think this is book 4 and it is a vast improvement over book 3. We've got a real bad guy, an amusing cameo from our friend Sgt. Doakes, art!, and fun family interaction between Dexter and his kids. I must say that these are the most fun children I've encountered in recent (literary) history. (Of course, I have a really terrible memory for things I've read, watched, heard, said or done... but otherwise - top notch!) If you haven't read or seen anything from Dexter - Miami's serial-killer, forensic blood splatter expert - I need to tell you that these children who he's now married into (onto, what would the preposition be?) are damaged like he was as a child. They are little sociopaths. (Undoubtedly, that makes them more fun to read about than to spend time with.) Dexter recognizes what they are and they have made an arrangement that he will teach them to channel their blood-lust in the way that his adoptive father, Harry, taught him. They are eager. Pushy, at times.

"So," Deutsch said relentlessly, "what brings you to Scouting, Cody?"
Cody glanced at me. I smiled, and he turned back to Deutsch "Have fun," he said, his small, deadpan face looking like he was at a funeral.
"Great," said Deutsch. "Scouting should be fun. But there's a serious part, too. You can learn about all kinds of cool things. Is there anything special you really want to learn about, Cody?"
"Animal carving," Cody said, and I had to fight not fall out of my tiny chair...


Black comedy. Its all me.

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