Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Having watched the tv series of the same name, I was probably more enthused to read this book than I should have been. A more useful outlook would have been a clean slate, but unfortunately the book was measured against Michael C Hall's performance, which is utterly unfair.

Having said that, I did enjoy this book, but the main character is not nearly as charismatic as Hall and the writing is nowhere near as sharp. I feel somewhat ashamed in admitting this stance, since I'm usually the one looking down my nose and people who watch the movie before reading the book, but this is one of the rare cases in which the tv show exceeds the source material.

Having recently finished the book Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, I'm forced to wonder if I've become too bitter and tainted to enjoy a mild young adult story of two teens finding love in an alternative universe, or is this another case where a great story has been trivialized by focusing on the inept lovelife of two characters? This is the same issue I had with Titanic. The tragic story of 1500 people who drowned on the maiden voyage of the largest shipliner at the time, a movie in which 200 million dollars was spent creating the idyllic picture and demise of the 1912 cruiseship Titanic and what story are we treated to? Peasant Jack and spoiled rich girl Rose's failed relationship.

I'm sure any souls reading this would accuse me of being a curmudgeon, but I don't like the idea of foregoing an immense amount of rich material, just to focus on a story that could take place in the normal world.

Other than this trite relationship, I found myself enjoying the side stories of this book. The aging backwards thing, the talking dogs, the well in which the Elswhere residents can communicate with the real world, all of these were fun details to explore. If you don't mind a few heavy-handed themes and a nauseating romance arc, this is the book for you.