Sexual hunger; demonic violence; sinister logic - the lethal components of a deadly formula driving a psychopath in the grip of an unimagin-able delusion; a boastful killer who sends the police tormenting notes; a tortured, torturing monster who finds ultimate pleasure in viciously murdering happy families, and calls himself. . . The Red Dragon.
Special agent Will Graham has been assigned to similar cases before, cases where he was able to see and feel WITH the madmen, anticipate their moves and, most terrifying of all, be vulnerable to their horrifying brutality. Now Graham is reluctantly lured out of retirement, to find an opening to the evil mind of the Red Dragon. Red Dragon is quite probably the most suspenseful, utterly compelling thriller ever written.
Genre defining
The writing in this book is beyond spectacular, and is in my Top 5 books of all time. As well as weaving together several character arcs from many different walks of life across a number of years, this novel introduces us to perhaps the most infamous fictional Serial Killer of all time: Hannibal Lector.
A series of family murders begin to take place in the early 1980's which force veteran FBI Criminal Profiler Will Graham out of retirement to track down a killer who refers to himself as the Great Red Dragon. Aiding him in his investigation is the notorious Hannibal, who Will captured just a few years prior. Hannibal seems to always know who the Dragon is, as he uses his background in therapy and psychology to manipulate Will Graham. As the families start to get brutalised in a more refined way, Graham knows he has to conquer his own internal demons to figure out who is killing, and he has to do so quickly.
An excellent, genre defining crime thriller. - Ashley
QBD, 08/07/2016
