In my opinion, the best (and the earliest) of Harris's Hannibal Lecter novels. Lecter plays only a minor part in this book, but he is all the more menacing when his violence is only hinted at rather than thrust into the reader's face (as it was in Hannibal).

However, the real star of Red Dragon is Will Graham, the troubled but brilliant criminal investigator who is on vacation as the book begins. Graham's special talent is the ability to think like a criminal--a skill that Graham finds comfortable and, therefore, terrifying. Harris portrays Graham to perfection. Throughout the narrative, one gets the feeling that Graham's exterior calmness is hiding a more troubling psyche, and one of the most fascinating aspects of the book is watching Graham react in his own unique way to the often troubling events that surround his investigation.

The investigation itself is a virtuoso feat of plotting. Even though Harris reveals who the killer is early on in the book, the cat-and-mouse game that results still ratchets up the suspense with every chapter.

I also liked Harris's portrayal of the killer. Unlike the vaguely homosexual and somewhat bland villain in Silence of the Lambs, the killer in Red Dragon is a plausible fanatic. In part the strength of this character comes from the sympathetic way that Harris treats him; but mostly my fascination with the killer came from his very realistic (and even touching) struggle with the dark forces pulsing through him.

Finally, as usual, Harris's writing remains clean and simple throughout, propelling the story forward with admirable ease.

This is a fun (if violent) book, and one of Harris's finest. I read it after I read Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, expecting Harris's earlier book to be weakest, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself gripped by this novel far more than by the other two.

Copyright © 2001 Steven Wu