Dexter Is Dead

Dexter Is Dead

Author	Jeff Lindsay
Language	English
Series	Dexter Morgan
Genre	Crime novel
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	July 2015
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback)
Pages	304
ISBN	978-0-385-53653-0
Preceded by	Dexter's Final Cut

Dexter Is Dead is the eighth novel written by Jeff Lindsay, and the final book in the 'Dexter Morgan' book series about a serial killer who targets serial killers. The book was released on July 7, 2015.

Plot

After the events of the previous book, Dexter is accused of murdering Rita and molesting Astor. The Miami-Dade Police Department does all they can to pin the crimes on Dexter, even resorting to falsifying evidence. Deborah decides to cut ties with Dexter and takes custody of his children. Only Masuoka is working to clear Dexter's name, with no success. Brian bails Dexter out of jail and gets him a lawyer, but is being targeted by a Mexican drug cartel he had previously stolen money from. The cartel tries to kill Dexter multiple times to get to Brian.

Deborah reluctantly contacts Dexter to inform him his kids have been kidnapped, which leads to a fragile reconciliation. Dexter manages to set up a meeting with Detective Anderson and some of Raul's thugs to get him killed, which happens, though not before he manages to kill his attackers, leaving Dexter with no one to interrogate. Eventually they find out that their lawyer was supplying Raul with Dexter's intel, which makes them ambush him, kill him and all the cartel's members who followed Frank, save for one, who is taken by the brothers to a secluded warehouse, where he is severely interrogated and mutilated to get the kids' location and to satisfy their urges.

Once Dexter's children are located, Brian, Deborah, and Dexter team up, break onto Raul's yacht, and take the kids back. Deborah takes the kids away, but Brian is killed by a bomb he himself planted and Dexter is severely wounded by it and a gunshot from Raul, followed by a stomp on his wound. After Deborah kills Raul, Dexter stays on the yacht to set another bomb so there's no evidence left, then jumps off the yacht into the water. As he sinks into the ocean and loses consciousness, the book leaves it open as to whether Dexter dies or not.