Darkly Dreaming Dexter

How it reads

Darkly Dreaming Dexter is thriller (serial-killer thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a big city setting, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are identity, justice and secrets. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It opens a series. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. At 288 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.