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
"SERIAL Killer ~ how does he choose his victims?"
PLOT: 2 Families are killed and slaughter by the same serial killer~ how DOES he find his victims?~
Will Graham is the "FBI agent" who helped capture Hannibal the cannibal~ is retired in Florida. He is drawn back into service when the "Tooth Fairy" a serial killer who bites his victims ..having killed 2 families ~ HOW DID HE CHOOSE HIS VICTIMS? The Red Dragon aka the Tooth Fairy carefully chooses his victims by a clever means and stalks on the full moon. Now Will Graham is busy discovering clues to help "prevent" the death of a third family. ADDED fun is a cheap sheet reporter for the National Tattler used by both the Tooth Fairy and Will Graham. The Red Dragon is busy communicating with Hannibal Lecter and is a FAN. This is a first rate horror thriller. WE go inside the mind of Will Graham the agent left barely alive by Lecter after his capture. the details of both the crimes and solving it keep you glued from the begining. WE tie The RED DRAGON who we find has a very abused child hood and we understand how a MONSTER CAN BE CREATED. This READER is especially good and his excellent VOICE and story come together for a 5 STAR audio book that is first rate. I am off to listen to Silence of the Lambs.
Let's face it, these authors aren't paying me, so there's no need to lie!!
"The Movie Plus A Little Bit Extra..."
Whoever adapted the screenplay from this book really nailed it. If you've seen the movie, and liked it, then this should be a good weekend read for you. There aren't many sotries out there with darker, more deranged villains than this guy, and Harris manages to show quite a bit of the story from his sickly twisted perspective. I would've liked to have seen more of Hannibal Lector, and less of the Detective, but no book is perfect. Lector is (obviously) a classic villain, and there just isn't enough of him in here.
Be warned, this book does date itself. If you're not familiar with technology of the 80's (i.e. video tapes, home movie projectors, etc), you may find some of this irritating. Also, the lack of forensic (DNA) evidence procedures took a while for me to fully accept. You find saliva and semen at a crime scene, but have no idea who this criminal could be? Unheard of these days...
The narrarator is very good. Hits all the marks and keeps it moving.
LIBERAL DEMOCRAT.
"greatbook!"
oh yes, i have read the book and seen the movie (manhunter). i love the audiobook the best. because i don't see well and anyway, i enjoy someone reading to me. that way i don't miss a thing. i find my eyes tire too quickly and i end up skipping half the book.
it is a good story. i will listen to again and again.
silence of the lambs by the same author. maybe because the y were written by the same author.
a clear crisp voice. easy on the ears.
when reba was with frances and he was watching those movies of his next victim. i remember that when i read the book and saw the movie. again that moment struck me as very very scary.
"Maybe Harris' best book"
Engaging
Exciting
Scary
The story kept my attention
When the Dragon jumped out of the bushes at the end - I did not expect that, I thought he was dead
I could have
Its a good listen, not the best or most exciting book I've ever read, but very entertaining.
"Not what I expected"
More Hannibal Lector
An Innocent Man by John Grissom
The Narrator was great. The story was boring.
Not Really
It should not have been part of the Hannibal Lector series of books when he's only mentioned in couple of paragraphs. I wish that character would have been a larger part of the book.