The books don't remain relatively grounded. The first book has the mental connection between Dexter and his brother, which was cut from the TV series. The second just gets a bit weird. And after that... Well, they bring in the god Moloch...
Still, they were okay. I'll probably read them again some day. I'd probably recommend at least the first to someone who liked the show, just to see how the show diverged. Of course, the first book ends on a cliffhanger, so you have to read the beginning of the second to even see how the books handed the end of the first story.
They aren't as much a character piece as the TV series tried to be. Rita, a major part of the TV show, had maybe two paragraphs in the entire first book. The book was always more concerned with the kids, as Rita was never anything but a cover for Dexter.
At the same time, I prefer some of the actual book characterization. The TV series turned Deb into a joke. In the book, Deb and Laguerta were opposites. Deb, in trying to be like Harry, was the perfect cop. Too perfect, actually, as she was too idealistic to play politics and thus her advancement stalled out. Laguerta was only politics. She was completely incompetent as a cop, but was on the fast track upwards because of her political maneuvering. The TV show turned Deb into a generic dumb bimbo cop. And then it went and tried to humanize Laguerta, who you weren't supposed to like. (How the Deb/Dexter status changes with the end of the first book just doesn't work quite as well if Laguerta has any redeeming qualities. Of course the TV series changed that as well as changing the first book's ending.)
Still, they were okay. I'll probably read them again some day. I'd probably recommend at least the first to someone who liked the show, just to see how the show diverged. Of course, the first book ends on a cliffhanger, so you have to read the beginning of the second to even see how the books handed the end of the first story.
They aren't as much a character piece as the TV series tried to be. Rita, a major part of the TV show, had maybe two paragraphs in the entire first book. The book was always more concerned with the kids, as Rita was never anything but a cover for Dexter.
At the same time, I prefer some of the actual book characterization. The TV series turned Deb into a joke. In the book, Deb and Laguerta were opposites. Deb, in trying to be like Harry, was the perfect cop. Too perfect, actually, as she was too idealistic to play politics and thus her advancement stalled out. Laguerta was only politics. She was completely incompetent as a cop, but was on the fast track upwards because of her political maneuvering. The TV show turned Deb into a generic dumb bimbo cop. And then it went and tried to humanize Laguerta, who you weren't supposed to like. (How the Deb/Dexter status changes with the end of the first book just doesn't work quite as well if Laguerta has any redeeming qualities. Of course the TV series changed that as well as changing the first book's ending.)
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