RED DRAGON
by Thomas Harris
I wish I’d written this ...
... because it had me digging my fingernails into its cover!
I read this out of sequence, after THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but it hardly matters. The two novels are similar, except this one places less emphasis on Hannibal Lecter. As brilliant as I thought LAMBS was, I think DRAGON is marginally better. Certainly, it feels more traumatic, and its main serial killer, the Tooth Fairy (aka the Red Dragon) is much scarier than “Buffalo Bill.” Harris is a terrific writer. There’s no padding here at all, and every single scene drives the story forward, making the book very hard indeed to put down. If I have any criticism, it’s that the climax felt a little hasty. I needed further insight into the killer’s mind but didn’t get it. Having said that, I can’t see how Harris could have supplied it without spoiling his truly shocking twist.
From the publisher
A second family has been massacred by the terrifying serial killer the press has christened "The Tooth Fairy." Special Agent Jack Crawford turns to the one man who can help restart a failed investigation — Will Graham. Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help.
