Red Dragon

By: Thomas Harris

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A quiet summer night...a neat suburban house...and another innocent, happy family is shattered - the latest victims of a grisly series of hideous sacrificial killings that no one understands, and no one can stop. Nobody lives to tell of the unimaginable carnage. Only the blood-stained walls bear witness.

All hope rests on Special Agent Will Graham, who must peer inside the killer's tortured soul to understand his rage, to anticipate and prevent his next vicious crime. Desperate for help, Graham finds himself locked in a deadly alliance with the brilliant Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the infamous mass murderer who Graham put in prison years ago.

As the imprisoned Lecter tightens the reins of revenge, Graham's feverish pursuit of the Red Dragon draws him inside the warped mind of a psychopath, into an unforgettable world of demonic ritual and violence, beyond the limits of human terror.

©1981 Thomas Harris (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Classic Cop Thriller

This was an enjoyable 13 hours or so of story to consume at work. I felt myself empathizing with the characters and their actions, feeling their fear and elation. It’s interesting how this story compares to the movies. I was expecting Hannibal to be centered in the story, but he was more of a footnote and plot device. It was a good listen, would recommend to anyone who likes a good scare and peek into fictionalized psychopaths and the fictitious feds that catch them.

Narrator wasn’t my favorite

I liked the book just fine, but unfortunately I’ve gotta say I didn’t enjoy the narrators way of elongating everything the people were saying. Made it a little difficult to listen to, but I guess if you speed up the talking on audible to at least 1.2 it’s not as….elongated with the words. Thankful the next book has a different narrator (sorry to the narrator of this book, I don’t mean to be critical but maybe someone else will feel the same? I’m sure he’s great! This one I was just not a fan of, sorry!)

One of my favorites

This is a great story. It’s a shame we never saw another book with Will Graham in it.

Maybe Harris' best book

If you could sum up Red Dragon in three words, what would they be?

Engaging
Exciting
Scary

What did you like best about this story?

The story kept my attention

Which scene was your favorite?

When the Dragon jumped out of the bushes at the end - I did not expect that, I thought he was dead

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could have

Any additional comments?

Its a good listen, not the best or most exciting book I've ever read, but very entertaining.

Full-on Adrenaline Roller Coaster

Every once in a while, you find a book that you want to swallow whole. This is that book.

I thought it was an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride from start to finish. I purchased the sequel before I had even finished this one.

The narration is spot on. Alan Sklar does a fantastic job.

Interesting and creepy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about serial killers. If you can't handle the dark side of the human psyche, don't read this book.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I was not enthralled with the narration. I've listened to quite a few audio books, and the best narrators are those who are able to create distinct voices for the various characters. Mr. Sklar has a wonderful voice, but I sometimes found it difficult to follow dialogue-heavy sections because he did not always alter his voice enough for me to distinguish between speakers. I will give him props for the serial killer part; his voice was truly creepy and made my skin crawl!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I saw the movie adaptation of this book, so I was familiar with the story. It's twisted and suspenseful, for sure.

A classic cerebellum suspenseful story! Amazing

😋😊‼️Suspense from the first telling of this story! Bravo 👏 The story of another psychopath and his methodically planed execution of everyday families ~

Job well done.

A good one that I read as a teenager so it was cool to hear it brought to life by such an outstanding voice actor. want to hear more of him.

Holds up in 2014, but sadly, little Lecter.

The first thing I want to address right off the bat,(and no disrespect meant), is that narrator Alan Sklar sounds exactly like Stacy Keach. The whole time I was listening, I couldn't get Stacy Keach out of my mind. Needless to say, Mr. Sklar did a fantastic job and was a pleasure to 'listen' to.

Okay, so the story itself: If the few times that the date was mentioned (mid 70's) within was actually witheld, there is no reason why the reader/listener couldn't accept that the story didn't take place today. That in essence is a key aspect as to how decent a book can be, that it's main premise can withstand a time gap of 40+ years and still feel as if it is current.

Although most people today probably picked this up as a background to Silence of the Lambs (like me), you will find that the gold that is Hannibal Lecter is somewhat shorter than one would expect. His few chapters are indeed riveting, and the few notions in which Thomas Harris plants the seeds of how Hannibals mind and machinations work sadly have very little payoff in the novel as a whole. Hannibals insertions within seem like an overall tease with Harris alluding to events between Will and Lecter, but the full background is never realized piquing the interest of the listener...but never really delivering.

The first few chapters in which the crime scenes are reconstructed are very well done, walking us step by detailed (and gruesome) step and sets up the overall story on Will's quest to apprehend the "Tooth Fairy" (aka Red Dragon). In this aspect the first 1/3rd of the book was phenominal, but then the story seems to downshift a bit and take on more of a formulaic detective procedural which seemed to be lacking the physcolgical and twisted elements I was hoping for. The brief backstory (or pehaps 'origin', if you will) of the Red Dragon in his youth was interesting and forming, but when brought forward to his present day events, the Red Dragon himself seemed to lose some of his own mystique in my opinion and seemed rather ordinary other than the mandatory anti-social quirk and physical issues....but really nothing out of the ordinary (maybe I'm not being fair...perhaps I'm just de-sensitized from watching too much 48 Hours or other police procedurals).

Towards the end, chapters are slightly shorter and take on a slightly faster pace and the payoff was somewhat predictable but at least satisfying, although not great. And of course, there is the obligatory Lecter reference in the end which is nothing more than brief 'fan-service', but doesn't matter one way or another. That being said, still one of the better crime-stories I've read/heard in a long time and is a nice introcudtion to the Lecter universe.

"You Owe Me Awe" and I shall give it

I can't say anything new about this book that wasn't already revealed in either the movie (starring the magnanimous Ed Norton) or other reviewers, but if you liked the movies or just a good serial killer fantasy, this book offers it. **minor spoilers** It delves even deeper into the Francis Dolarhyde psyche that the movie barely scratched the surface of - filled with abuse, typical (and horrible) childhood trauma, and the sacrificing of small pets, the Red Dragon is as misunderstood and tragic as the monster within the man struggles to cope in normalcy. Of course he doesn't, but it's only a small comfort when he's caught. I don't condone what the man/monster did but the feverent passion he showed, the discipline, the painstaking selection of choosing his victims, and his need to change (both the good and the bad) really made me look at the movie even more closely than before. I wanted to read even more about the Red Dragon's upbringing, but this one of two Hannibal Lector prequels, so I will have to be underwhelmed for that particular want. Perhaps the author will create another story (a prequel from an already set prequel) that centers around the origin of the Red Dragon a bit more, but until such a book is written I will have to contend with the book I already have and enjoy it. Definitely going into one of the fav book piles.