Name: Red Dragon
Rating: 3.99 (100 reviews)
ISBN: 9780099532934

Thomas Harris

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.

Red Dragon

I have of course had these on my radar for a long time. I was recently offered an ARC of Hannibal Lector: A Life, to which I said yes, and while I have seen the movie version and Silence of the Lambs, and I was a huge fan of the Hannibal show, I figured I should tackle the originals for my frame of reference. Although I will say my prior watches definitely influenced my reception of this novel.

The novel starts with a really strong dive into the work of the police and feds in a way that I thought spoke of not just research, but maybe even experience. Not just at the inner workings, but also in the way it was put on the page. It didn’t feel heavy handed, just impeccably precise. And if I am wrong, that’s simply more of a testament to the writer’s ability in my opinion.

The killings haven’t led to an arrest, and when a second family is murdered, Special Agent Crawford must recruit (or perhaps it’s re-recruit?) Will Graham. One of the best profilers ever, Graham must come back to stop the latest madman. I enjoyed that there was backstory with him being a bit jaded and (literally) scarred from catching Hannibal Lector, but while this worked being peppered into the show itself, it felt kind of out of place to me when I knew there wasn’t any prequel. But I admit that may be the point. The scarier, smarter, and even deadlier man has already been caught, and does Will Graham have it in him to illicit his help in catching someone else?

The Red Dragon as the killer was a fantastic serial killer. He had intrigue and depth, and even some humanity as he switched between himself and the dragon. And while I know it’s said that the author used pieces of Ed Gein’s crimes for this book’s sequel, there are many things that stood out about Dolarhyde and his upbringing that would fit that case as well. Especially the supposed idea of becoming or “transformation.” While this character was definitely an all-out on-the-page serial killer, there are definitely notes of heavy mental illness and abuse as well.

What lost me was in the second half the book seemed to take on a less structured approach where it would flip flop from the killer’s perspective, to stories of his past, to Will Graham’s investigation, to notes of Lector, and it all got to be a bit too heavy. What I enjoyed about the switching perspectives grew to be a little too much by the end for me. Especially the more whimsical or dreamlike states the killer would go through, it just lost me a bit.

The other problem for me, which is most definitely caused by my enjoyment of the show, was how this Will Graham is not really all that likable. Not only his likability, but the fact that this really didn’t do justice for me on the “best profiler ever that we simply must have.” There was seemingly a lot of him just fumbling around or taking his frustration out on people and he never really had that full circle growth.

The ending however, most certainly delivers. I tried to do my best to just enjoy and not try to remember or call back to how the show and movie did it, and I find that worked. Not just the twist, but the inevitable second twist! It really brought the book back around to enjoyable and made me want to jump back in with the sequel. A bit of a slow burn, but one that rewards those that stick with it.

C. J. Daley 

I have of course had these on my radar for a long time. I was recently offered an ARC of Hannibal Lector: A Life, to which I said yes, and while I have seen the movie version and Silence of the Lambs, and I was a huge fan of the Hannibal show, I figured I should tackle the originals for my frame of reference. Although I will say my prior watches definitely influenced my reception of this novel.

The novel starts with a really strong dive into the work of the police and feds in a way that I thought spoke of not just research, but maybe even experience. Not just at the inner workings, but also in the way it was put on the page. It didn’t feel heavy handed, just impeccably precise. And if I am wrong, that’s simply more of a testament to the writer’s ability in my opinion.

The killings haven’t led to an arrest, and when a second family is murdered, Special Agent Crawford must recruit (or perhaps it’s re-recruit?) Will Graham. One of the best profilers ever, Graham must come back to stop the latest madman. I enjoyed that there was backstory with him being a bit jaded and (literally) scarred from catching Hannibal Lector, but while this worked being peppered into the show itself, it felt kind of out of place to me when I knew there wasn’t any prequel. But I admit that may be the point. The scarier, smarter, and even deadlier man has already been caught, and does Will Graham have it in him to illicit his help in catching someone else?

The Red Dragon as the killer was a fantastic serial killer. He had intrigue and depth, and even some humanity as he switched between himself and the dragon. And while I know it’s said that the author used pieces of Ed Gein’s crimes for this book’s sequel, there are many things that stood out about Dolarhyde and his upbringing that would fit that case as well. Especially the supposed idea of becoming or “transformation.” While this character was definitely an all-out on-the-page serial killer, there are definitely notes of heavy mental illness and abuse as well.

What lost me was in the second half the book seemed to take on a less structured approach where it would flip flop from the killer’s perspective, to stories of his past, to Will Graham’s investigation, to notes of Lector, and it all got to be a bit too heavy. What I enjoyed about the switching perspectives grew to be a little too much by the end for me. Especially the more whimsical or dreamlike states the killer would go through, it just lost me a bit.

The other problem for me, which is most definitely caused by my enjoyment of the show, was how this Will Graham is not really all that likable. Not only his likability, but the fact that this really didn’t do justice for me on the “best profiler ever that we simply must have.” There was seemingly a lot of him just fumbling around or taking his frustration out on people and he never really had that full circle growth.

The ending however, most certainly delivers. I tried to do my best to just enjoy and not try to remember or call back to how the show and movie did it, and I find that worked. Not just the twist, but the inevitable second twist! It really brought the book back around to enjoyable and made me want to jump back in with the sequel. A bit of a slow burn, but one that rewards those that stick with it.

Thomas  Harris

Red Dragon - Naga Merah

Stefanie Sugia

"Peri Gigi akan terus mengulangi perbuatannya, sampai kita lebih cerdik atau lebih beruntung. Dia tidak akan berhenti."
"Kenapa?"
"Karena dia punya selera murni untuk itu."
Will Graham adalah mantan spesialis forensik di FBI. Ia mengundurkan diri sejak kejadian yang menimpa dirinya sewaktu menangkap Hannibal Lecter (yang dikenal sebagai 'Hannibal si Kanibal') - seorang psikopat yang luar biasa cerdas. Meskipun luka-luka di tubuhnya sudah sembuh walaupun masih meninggalkan bekas, Will merasa kesulitan untuk kembali ke pekerjaannya yang lama. Akan tetapi kedatangan seorang teman lama bernama Jack Crawford di tempat tinggalnya yang baru - yang nyaman dan menyenangkan - membawa Will Graham kembali kepada masa lalunya. Jack Crawford meminta bantuan Will untuk menyelidiki kasus pembunuhan terhadap dua keluarga di Birmingham dan Atlanta. Pelakunya diduga adalah seorang psikopat. Dan akhirnya, Will Graham pun kembali ke dunia penyelidikan yang kelam....

Baca review selengkapnya di:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2013/1...

Sarah Escorsa

The disappointing prequel to The Silence of the Lambs.

Patti Reinheimer

Memorable characters, well written, fast paced. A pleasure to read.

Aparna Eeshwar

I know I’m toooo late to the Hannibal series but hey! Better late than never and here’s what I thought. Because if there’s someone out there who hasn’t picked this up yet, DO IT NOW!! You’re gonna love it. 
Moving on…...

Will Graham a criminal profiler for FBI who was injured while capturing the ever creepy “Hannibal the Cannibal”. Which led him to leave his job and move to Florida with his wife and step-son. A few years later Will’s colleague and friend Jack Crawford reach out to him asking for his help to catch another serial killer “The Tooth Fairy” a.k.a. “The Dragon” which Will reluctantly offers to provide while his wife rolls her eyes at Jack.

Will who has tried to tune out the part of his brain that thinks exactly like a monstrous serial killer has to dust out the same grey cells of his brain to catch the tooth fairy and seek help from the same man who almost killed him, Hannibal.

Will, Jack, and their team have to figure out a way to find The Tooth Fairy before he strikes again while keeping him away from contacting Hannibal. Enter the not-so-ethical reporter Freddy Lounds who basically paints a huge red cross on Will’s back through his columns in the newspaper Tattler.

This book keeps you up at night to read and to be creeped out. It seems like everyone in this book is always on their toes or looking over their shoulder and so are you. I devoured this book day and night without a break with anticipation and thrill.
Too scared to finish this series but cannot wait to pick the next one up. Okay bye. x

Jiayi

Dan Denney

Finally!

I've meant to read this forever and it ties many things together from the movies and the show. I could hardly put it down

Bryan Alexander

I haven't read this since I was a teenager. So when my daughter lured me into watching the _Hannibal_ tv series, I wanted to see how the source book held up.
A few thoughts.

First, this is one influential book. Not only did it spawn the Hannibal Lecter franchise (which does sound like a fast-food chain, yes?), but surely fed into the following generations of police procedural narratives. The book is drenched in (for the time) high-tech analysis, inter-agency maneuvers, and media manipulation.

Second, Lecter doesn't matter too much here. He's a minor character. The book primarily concerns itself with the killer and the investigator.

Third, the Hannibal series treats this novel very seriously, almost to the point of being fanfiction. If I have time I'll copy over some of the references.

References:
-many characters, like Dr. Bloom (2), Fredy Lounds (39), Chilton (75), Garrett Jacob Hobbs (116)
-Will Graham's weird method (3) as "pure empathy" (194), even to the point of the pendulum/windshield washer visualization (12)
-Graham wakes up with saturated sheets (22)
-Graham sees killer an man-shaped darkness (247)
-the dogs (5)
-Lector's body count (68)
-prison interview setup (79)
-killing Hobbs felt good (348)

Foreshadowing to the end of _Hannibal_:
-Hannibal seriously wounded Will (3, 40)
-Will's institutionalization (116)

Janet Doré

Psychological thrillers starring psychopathic serial killers are not my usual type of book. At all. But, I wanted to sneak a peek at one of the latest books my son, a former anti-reading teenager turned 20 year old psychologist in training and avid reader, raved about. I have to say, he was darn right. 

Red Dragon is [well] written for an intelligent audience. Although it does follow the basic psycho thriller storyline formula, the character development is superb. Not a surprise considering Harris is the creator of one of the greatest fictional characters EVER, Hannibal Lecter...who graces us with a few appearances in this book. Francis Dolarhyde, AKA the Red Dragon, is a close second. 

If you're a fan of psycho thrillers, this is a must read. If you're not, but you want a taste of one, this one is pretty delicious.

Red Dragon

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