A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

I have had several people tell me that this book is a must read. However, I can’t claim that it was worth my time. I have a hard time with a story that is only partially told. And this one definitely fit in that category. It is the story of a father and a son in a post apocalyptic world, that are on a quest to find the sea.  And I understand that it isn’t the journey of the story that is the issue so much as the lessons learned along the way, this book just really left me wondering.

I really struggle with a story that seams to be a snapshot, or cross section of a larger whole.  It makes it really hard for me to orient to the story, and it makes it much more difficult to identify with the characters.  And making this even more difficult is that the main characters remain nameless, non-entities beginning to end.  Simply known as “the man” and “the boy” there is very little for me to identify with in the character development.  I also found myself asking beginning to end, what happened to the world they once lived in, and how did it come to this.  And what is so important about reaching the sea?

On the positive side, however, I know that it is a book which challenges moral issues in our society — I just felt that there was a lot missing from this book.  But there are many questions that are asked, and left to the reader to make their own conclusions.  Things such as theft, murder, suicide, and the definition of a man, when everything that identifies humanity is stripped away, and we have to revert back to our origins.  I did find these questions compelling, and Mr. McCarthy doesn’t so much force his interpretation on the reader, so much as he guides the reader to their own conclusions to these difficult questions.  Frequently we encounter the issues of social justice, mercy, crime, murder, and other major issues of our day in the modern context, with all the surroundings of civility.  But what happens when we take all those trappings away?  Do men continue to act as men?

While I can’t say that I enjoyed this book, I did find the questions it asked of the reader valid, and even thought provoking.  And I also found this approach to those questions more compelling because it asks them in a context that we rarely ever consider.  What is the source of our moral values?  Is it the society we live in, or is it truly originating with us as individuals?  And can we ever know without completely removing everything that creates the superstructure of our society, so we can see what our reactions are in the most extreme of situations?

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Dexter Morgan is not your average serial killer. He enjoys his day job as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department . . . but he lives for his nighttime hobby of hunting other killers. Dexter is therefore not pleased to discover that someone is shadowing him, observ­ing him, and copying his methods. Dexter is not one to tol­erate displeasure . . . in fact, he has a knack for extricating himself from trouble in his own pleasurable way.

Like the previous five best-selling novels in the Dexter series, Double Dexter showcases the witty, macabre origi­nality that has propelled Jeff Lindsay to international suc­cess. Double Dexter is raucously entertaining . . . full of smart suspense and dark laughs.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

Ok — I have to admit it.  We all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to reading.  Something that isn’t exactly classic literature, and doesn’t require a whole lot of thought.  For some it is the romance novels, others science fiction or fantasy.  For me it is Dexter Morgan — and his psychopathic, gallows humor.  His passion for duct tape and fishing wire, while living under the “Harry Code” is something that is refreshing in the field of murder mystery novels.  Combine that with his almost pathological aversion to blood (as a blood spatter analyst) and you simply have the makings for a character that is both memorable and fun. 

This installment has Dexter chasing child killers in his own fashion, while at the same time finding he, himself is being stalked by another hunter of the darkly perverted.  With the tables turned, Dexter is gaining a new appreciation for what it means to be on the dark list of a serial killer that is hunting for purely “moral” reasons.  During this chase, Dexter gives the reader his own insight into the bizarre world of human nature — and the crazing things that humans do simply through the course of living. 

I think it is this interesting insight that keeps me coming back to the Dexter series.  His emotionally removed, narcissistic perspective gives the reader an almost surreal look into the human psyche, and the motivations that are behind the weird circumstances we all find ourselves in.  The book is also filled with the dark Dexterisms that we have all come to know and love. 

I have recently been involved in several conversations regarding the Dexter series — particularly when I tell them I am currently reading another Dexter book.  They all want to have these great philosophical discussions on the merits of Dexter’s world.  Unfortunately there is no comparison.  Since most people have fallen in love with the Dexter television series — something that I really wasn’t all that impressed with — I find that we have a hard time comparing the books and the shows in this particular interest.  From what I have heard the shows go off in all kinds of weird directions — where the book does not go.  (Maybe that is why I didn’t like it as much as I do the novels.)  So, for this reader, I will stay with the books.

Dexter’s step-children are another part of this series that is really starting to amuse me.  As Dexter plays daddy to these little, budding dark villains, Dexter struggles to instill in them the “Harry Code” before they can begin their long walk into the world of murder and mayhem.  There is just something very idiosyncratic in the presentation of moral daddy Dexter juxtaposed over the narcissistic killer of the morally depraved.  It is just bizarre to say the least.  And in this one that becomes very apparent in their family trip to Key West to buy a home, and the only thing Cody and Aster are interested in doing is going to “feed the sharks.”  Simply classic in the dark world of Dexter. 

Lindsay has another wonderful novel in Double Dexter, and one that I particularly enjoyed.  For more information about this book, and its author, be sure to visit the following websites:

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.