Review of Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter, #1) by Thomas Harris

"He is a small man. Very neat," we are told, the first time we meet Doctor Hannibal Lecter, "[he] seldom holds his head upright. He tilts it as he asks a question, as though he were screwing an auger of curiosity into your face" (pages 80, 83).

Published in 1981, Red Dragon shows writer Thomas Harris at his crafty best. Thouse who have seen the 2002 movie will not be surprised by events in Harris' novel; but the book contains a good deal of backstory--not to mention Harris' talent for picturing a character, or conveying a provocative idea, in a compact few words:

(*) "Fear comes with imagination...it's the price of imagination." (p. 196)
(*) "[They] listened [to the forensics briefing] like karate students at an anatomy lecture." (p. 202)
(*) "Sunday and Monday passed in curiously jerky time. The minutes dragged and the hours flew." (p. 205)
(*) "It seemed to Graham that he had learned nothing in forty years: he had just gotten tired." (p. 244)
(*) "Reba McClane, leggy and brave, damned self-pity....She was aware of a deep vein of cripple's anger in her and...she was ever wary of people who foster dependency and feed on it." (pp. 308-309)
(*) "Graham wondered if [the female victims] ever did [their shopping] in tennis clothes. That was a fashionable thing to do in some areas. It was a dumb thing to do in some areas because it was doubly provocative--arousing class resentment and lust at the same time." (p. 355)

Thomas Harris had spent his career as a crime-journalist, and it shows. He has a detective's eye for detail, a back-of-his-hand knowledge of forensic procedure, and has uncanny psychological insights. It's a joy to appreciate Harris's expertise on display--and, obviously, he knows how to craft a hell of a good story. A most enjoyable thrill-ride of a book!
 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1751298380