The first book I’ve read by the legendary Thomas Harris and I could not put it down.
Our protagonist is Will Graham, a once-retired FBI agent who’s been dragged back into the field to catch a serial killer who’s wiped out two families so far.
Our antagonist is Francis Dolarhyde, whose facial deformation and speech impairment left him broken into pieces as a child, with a desire to feel powerful and in control – hence the emergence of his alter ego, The Red Dragon.
Red Dragon is riveting in the way Thomas leads us through the complicated work of the FBI, working with local law enforcement, to track the path of this dangerous criminal before he kills his next victims. It was written in the 1980s and Harris isn’t big on descriptions but the conversations between characters is tiki-taka in fashion and easy to follow.
Harris is a new favourite.
Favourite quote:
“In the house, silence, shiny surfaces, and dead air. Neat. Neat. The desperate order of an aging couple who see their lives begin to blur.”
Chapter 6