"Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris
Rating:
I stumbled into this book by chance: I spotted it at a book store and was drawn in by the newfound knowledge that The Silence of the Lambs is a part of a larger series. I have not seen the aforementioned movie nor read the book it was adapted from, so I entered with no expectations past an understanding that the next entry in the series is widely considered good.
The dryness of the prose somewhat undermines moments that could have been more emotional, but I found the story and characters to be engaging. It started slow and took me a while to get into it, but once I was hooked it was genuinely difficult to put the book down. Red Dragon performs well as both psychological horror and as a crime thriller. The reader is given significantly more information than the protagonist, and I found a lot of enjoyment in watching Graham piece together a puzzle that I already knew the answer to. The book becomes more interesting and enjoyable once the killer’s perspective is introduced, and that’s also where a large part of the psychological aspect comes into play. Hannibal is an interesting character but there’s not that much to be seen from him here. He’s simultaneously irrevocably important while also not feeling particularly present.
The largest point of contention for me, aside from the painfully slow start, is the ending. A lot happens in the last couple of chapters. Ignoring the specifics of the events (several of which I have mixed feelings about), I think that the ending itself plays into the psychological themes exceptionally well. A lot of the focus of the book is the negative affect the investigation has on Graham’s mind and interpersonal relationships, and the