Darkly Dreaming Dexter (14/01/15)

This is the first book in the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsey. It could roughly be classed in the genre of crime. However unlike other crime novels this is told from the murders perspective. It isn’t often I start a book and consider the fact that I am going to be on the killer side. I have watched most of the TV show which I thoroughly enjoyed, the book is different enough that you don’t feel like you have been through it before.

The book starts with Dexter and his ‘Dark Passenger’ the voice inside him that drives his need to kill. Dealing with a killer worse than him by far. We follow him and his strange thoughts through his day to day life. He repeatedly mentions that he is not human and does feel the way he should towards others. His closest relationship is with is foster sister Deborah who is following in her father’s footsteps and aims to move up from the normal police to the homicide team. Dexter is a blood spatter analyst and manages to keep his extra curricula activities hidden from all the police officers and detective around him. However Dexter starts to question himself and his grasp on sanity when it starts to look like he is involved with a string of vicious murders on hookers grips Miami.

This book was so easy and fun to read. At no point did anything Lindsey wrote feel like a chore to get through. I started to forget about the show and just go with his utter brilliance that shone through every single page. It is such a good book I can’t think of any other way to explain it. The book won’t make you think too deeply but it is fun and different and happily part of a larger series of books.

My lasting impression of this book is liking a character that should be likeable. Hoping he stays out of the clutches of the law which will always try and stop him. Also I can tell there is more to Dexter than meets the eye and I can’t wait to read the rest and delve into his sick and twisted mind again.

The Walking Dead Vol. 5 The Best Defence (03/11/14)

Vol. five see the survivors pushing their boundaries outside the relative safety they have developed inside the prison setting. Whilst outside the main complex Rick notices a helicopter crashing in the distance. Seeing this Rick, Glen and Michonne venture out to discover where the helicopter came from and is anyone has survived. Upon arrival at the scene they discover anything of importance has already been removed and there is evidence another group of people got there first. As their car is stuck and night is approaching they decide this other group must be somewhere near by so go in search of answers. This lead them to the town of Woodbury and basically all hell has begun to break lose, with the introduction of The Governor.

Anyone who has seen the TV series will understand this importance and vaguely know what to expect… What I wasn’t prepared for is how evil this villain is in the graphic novels. He is so much worse than I thought he could be and I really fear for the characters. After saying I wasn’t fond of Michonne in the graphic novels I now have new found respect for her. I really hope she gets to wreak some revenge soon. Rick may have seemed crazy in the last volume but I am glad of this now and can’t wait until this story line really gets going. 

I really feel like the art work is developing and it definitely has its own feel about it now with characters facial expressions becoming more define as the story progresses. There is a definite feeling of story progression now rather than, these are some people and this is the setting. I feel like there are some drastic things to come in the next volume and really I can’t wait to see what happens.

The Walking Dead Vol.1 Days Gone Bye (08/08/14)

So I have finally got started on reading these graphic novels. I have been an avid fan of the TV remake and am fully aware that the series and graphic novels do not run exactly scene for scene. Some characters have had longer roles or shorter roles, other characters added or omitted. That is not what I am concerning myself with whilst reading this novel.

What I am concerned with is how the book felt as I read it. I thought the frames were well drawn, if you take the time to look over each picture you really feel the emotions of each of the characters. At no point does it feel lacking from the sole use of greyscale, colour is unnecessary in this story. Considering there is limited writing used, the conversations between characters have been orchestrated to portray all the information and emotions needed.

It always takes me a few pages to get into a graphic novel, the switch to reading pictures and not written descriptions takes some getting used to, but this story is so gripping that it isn’t hard to get lost in it. Nothing is too gruesome or overdone (not that I mind gruesome) but some people may be put off as it is a tale set in a zombie ridden world, but actually this is a story about the effect on the people left standing. How they cope in this new harsh existence, and how they decide to make a new future for themselves. This is a great start to a series and I will be carrying on gladly and with a great deal of enthusiasm.