RED DRAGON BY THOMAS HARRIS

Will Graham is an FBI forensics expert recruited by his friend Jack Crawford to track down and stop a psychopathic killer known as the Tooth Fairy.  The problem is Graham is damaged goods.  He’s one of the few Hannibal Lecter victims to get away with a functioning liver.  Graham has the scar to prove.  So screwed up is Graham by the experience, he moved to Florida got married and became a diesel mechanic.  And who could blame him. 

Graham puts the memory of his liver potentially being a finger food treat at a Lecter party behind him and joins the hunt.  Why, because secretly his new life is boring the shit out of him.  This isn’t in the book, but you have to figure.  FBI agent who tracks down the nastiest of the nasties becomes a diesel mechanic swatting skeeters in Florida.  No way. 

Graham jumps in with both feet, but not all is well.  Remember, he’s damaged goods.  The reason he’s a successful manhunter (the name of the first movie) is because he has a creepy talent for empathizing with the nutcase killers he tracks down.  This talent makes him question his own sanity.  So while he’s an eager beaver he’s got issues he needs to work out.

 

While Graham goes on the hunt.  The prey is batshit crazy killer Francis Dolarhyde.  But don’t blame him.  He’s bad because momma left him with his equally batshit crazy grandma.  So naturally, like all boys raised by crazy women, he’s got issues with the ladies.  His cleft palate isn’t helping.  Francis, the name alone would cause him problems getting laid even if he didn’t have a cleft palate, gets this thing for a painting called THE GREAT RED DRAGON and the WOMAN CLOTHED with the SUN.  (I wonder why Harris didn’t use this as the title of the book.)  Too freakin long is why!  Anyway, Francis gets his grille fixed, starts doing P90X, gets a job, but he can’t get this Red Dragon thing out of his head.  Instead of stepping back and admiring the dragon he wants to be the dragon.  Why, because he’s batshit crazy, remember?  He bites his victims with his grandma’s choppers for God’s sake!  Sick bastard!

So Grahams on the case.  He starts poking around, watches home movies of the victims and realizes the killer must have been watching the families before he killed them.  Bingo!  He gets a clue. 

Meanwhile, Francis falls in love with the only woman who could ever find him attractive blind Reba; she's blind, horny and not too bright.  Reba is hot to trot so she hooks up with Francis.  The dragon whips his tail and likes it.  (Hey, Mikey, he likes it!)  But wait a minute, here comes the after sex remorse.  Francis goes, “Am I a slut?  No, she’s a slut! No she isn’t! Yes she is!” and decides Reba the blind bimbo has got to go.  Why because she’s messing with the dragon’s mojo and Francis is batshit crazy.  Meanwhile, Graham is closing in.  He figures out the home movies are the key, duh!  While this is going on, people are dying all over.  That’s okay because we aren’t that into them anyway.

 

Francis feels the cops closing in.  He wants to be the dragon and he wants Reba too.  He has a mean jealous streak and does an O.J. on a guy walking Reba home one night.  (Is that wrong to say?)  To come up with a happy ending, Francis consults the batshit crazy manual and decides the only way to have it all is to kill Reba and himself.  Of course, like all the plans in the manual things don’t work out and Reba escapes and Francis becomes Puff the Magic Dragon.  Or does he?  What happened?   READ THE DAMNED BOOK.  Don’t be lazy.

Red Dragon uses omniscient narration smoothly from chapter to chapter and scene to scene.  The reconstructions of the murder scenes are awesome and Will Graham is super relatable.  The hunt for the killer is methodical and believable enough given the historic time frame and world of the story.  An easy read and it will make you want to watch both movies made from the book: Manhunter and Red Dragon.  Go get it.