After recently watching the first season of the hit TV series "Dexter," I learned that the show was based on the 2004 novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay.

Dexter is a likable professional who works as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. But he has a dark secret. Dexter has the urge to kill - an urge he satisfies by hunting down murderers who have evaded the criminal justice system. Once captured, Dexter kills and dismembers these killers before dumping their bodies in the ocean. When a new mass murderer begins killing and dismembering in Miami, Dexter is fascinated by the similarity of this killer's style to his own. Things become creepy when the new killer begins sending messages to Dexter, sometimes by breaking into Dexter's apartment.

Watching Season 1 of the TV show prepared me for most of the twists Lindsay presents in this story. The episode plots followed the novel closely. But that did not diminish my enjoyment of this book and my respect for the author's misdirections and red herrings.

"Darkly Dreaming Dexter" is a human story about a man devoid of human emotion, but who still manages to live by a strong moral code. He tries to reconcile a double life and come to terms with who he is and where his loyalties lie.

It took me almost two decades to watch the TV series and even longer to discover the book, but I am glad I experienced them both.