Red Dragon – Thomas Harris

FINALLY picking this one up after years of having it on my shelf. Now that I think about it, it’s probably closer to a decade or more of having it. When your Bookstagram buddy wants to read it, that turns into the perfect time to read together.

RED DRAGON – Thomas Harris (Originally Released November 16th, 1981)

Book Description:

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.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars

So, I’ll be the first to admit that I thought RED DRAGON came after THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. This is due to seeing the films first. Who the hell knows why they made the second book a movie first, then went back to do RED DRAGON (which was also adapted into another film with a different name). Once we got that confusion out of the way, then I was ready to dive in!

I had recognized some things from the film, like when Will goes to see Lecter again. The information that Dr. Chilton gives him before he is allowed back is what I remember hearing him say in the adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs! How could you forget someone talking about how his heart rate stayed steady even after swallowing someone else’s tongue? Anyway, this was as creepy and scary as I was hoping it would be. I liked going into the mind of Dolarhyde more than we could in the film. He is a fascinating character and I think Ralph Fiennes did an incredible job bringing him to life.

While I’ve seen the film and knew how it ended (assuming they didn’t change it, of course), the suspense was still there and I was flying through to see what would happen. I know it’s usually better to read the book before seeing the film or TV show, but it was kind of fun doing it in the reverse. There were definitely things here and there that differed, but overall I really enjoyed it! Now, time to read THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS again to see how much I remember from the books versus just the film.