Hades by Candice Fox - Impossible for me to "rate". Sometimes, it is a 2 star, other times a 4, even 5 star. Or it could be ZERO stars for taking a well-known literary and television character and re-writing it.
Is this fan fiction?
The parallels to Dexter Morgan are painfully obvious. Child witnesses brutally violent death of parent. Subsequently, the father figure role model that steps in to raise child(ren) recognizes violent tendencies. Child (then teen) is abnormally intelligent. Father figure develops a plan and way for kid(s) to function undetected and contribute to society ultimately working in homicide police department. Brother and sister work in homicide together.
Yes, the parallels are that close, but enough things have been changed that the story is possible to enjoy, I suppose. I couldn't get past it. I couldn't stop thinking "how did this win an award for Australian debut author in crime fiction in 2014?" Shouldn't a winner of such an award be a little more creative than take the outline of the Dexter series and change it up enough for it not to be plagiarism?
I can't be the only person to notice this, am I right?? After reading the book, I scanned some goodreads reviews. Yes, others have noticed the Dexter parallels as well.
The parallels to Dexter Morgan are painfully obvious. Child witnesses brutally violent death of parent. Subsequently, the father figure role model that steps in to raise child(ren) recognizes violent tendencies. Child (then teen) is abnormally intelligent. Father figure develops a plan and way for kid(s) to function undetected and contribute to society ultimately working in homicide police department. Brother and sister work in homicide together.
Yes, the parallels are that close, but enough things have been changed that the story is possible to enjoy, I suppose. I couldn't get past it. I couldn't stop thinking "how did this win an award for Australian debut author in crime fiction in 2014?" Shouldn't a winner of such an award be a little more creative than take the outline of the Dexter series and change it up enough for it not to be plagiarism?
I can't be the only person to notice this, am I right?? After reading the book, I scanned some goodreads reviews. Yes, others have noticed the Dexter parallels as well.
If you can get past the Dexter similarities (or you never read/watched Dexter previously), you will probably enjoy this book. If not, give it a pass.
It's the 7th year for the Aussie Author Challenge, and my 2nd year participating (click on the picture/link to take you directly to the site for more information). My working book list is as follows:
Female Authors:
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks- COMPLETED 23 April 2016What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty- COMPLETED 25 March 2016- The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington(non-fiction)- COMPLETED 17 January 2016
Male Authors:
- Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
- Life or Death by Michael Robotham
Guilt by Matthew Nable- COMPLETED 3 February 2016- The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
Authors New to Me:
-
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett- COMPLETED 12 March 2016 This House of Grief by Helen Garner(non-fiction)- COMPLETED 25 February 2016Hades by Candice Fox- COMPLETED 21 May 2016Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic- COMPLETED 14 April 2016
Sounds like a good read. Ive told my sister countless times that aussie books are so different but I love them. You are the queen of challenges btw and I live vicariously through you!
ReplyDeleteI've never watch the Dexter series but I know that people who do REALLY love it. They'd probably be pretty cheesed that it's so similar. That's a disappointment!
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched Dexter (yet another show that my husband watched without me), but I read another book recently that had some similarities to Dexter. I still thought it was good, but I'm wondering if I wouldn't have if I had seen the show.
ReplyDeletehmmm i haven't watched dexter but you're definitely not selling me on this book haha
ReplyDeleteThis book has been on my "To Read" list for a while, but I may remove it. I didn't realize it was THAT similar to Dexter. Yikes. I understand feeling inspired by something, but this really does sound like the author pretty much decided to "rewrite" the Dexter series without really making many changes. That's disappointing.
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