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Title: Red Dragon Movie tie-In by Thomas Harris, Chris Sarandon ISBN: 0-7435-2707-0 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 10 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.39 (401 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Great book only slightly flawed
Comment: Through other reviews the plot of Red Dragon is pretty well spelled out. So I'll skip a synopsis. Red Dragon is one of the finest thrillers I've read in many years. The book is very well plotted, the characters are fleshed out, the pace is brisk, and the tension is kept up through most of the book and of course, as mentioned numerous times, this book marks Hannibal Lecter's first (albeit small) appearance.
A surprise to the book is the way so much time and back story is given to the antagonist/killer. We spend a great deal of time with Francis Dolarhyde, experiencing the childhood and early adult life that led to his present condition. This brought back very pleasant memories of some of author Robert Bloch's earliest novels, in which most, if not all the story was told from the antagonist/killer's point-of-view. Francis is not your typical serial killer of many of today's novels, where the killer basically is unsympathetic and whose motives are of your typical, done-too-many-times revenge variety. Francis, although a vicious killer, is also quite sympathetic in his way. Three quibbles. First, although a pleasant surprise on one hand, I feel that a little TOO much time was spent on Dolarhyde's background. We get the idea very early on, and the rest feels like excessive overkill. Second, the ending (don't worry, I'm not going to give it away), can easily be seen coming and is not a surprise.
Lastly, (and this is not a fault of the book itself) I'd seen the movie that this book was based on, MANHUNTER, before I read this book. Because the movie follows the book very closely, much of the additional delicious suspense that would have been there for me was missed. I knew what was coming. But not to discourage people in the same shoes as I, be heartened by the fact that the ending of the movie does NOT follow the book!
Despite this pre-knowledge of events, I must say Red Dragon kept me turning the pages. I didn't stay up all night and read this book, but I DID look forward to getting to it each day that I was reading it. It's that good.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very good
Comment: I tell you, Thomas Harris can write a good book.
In Red Dragon, the prequel (although also written before, not as an gimmick afterward) to Silence of the Lambs, we follow Will Graham, a former FBI agent brought back to investigate a serial killer who chooses suburban families as his victims. He's also famous for being the man who caught Hannibal Lecter, who also gets a bit part in this story (not nearly as extensive as Silence or Hannibal).
I thought I'd be disappointing with the fact that Hannibal isn't in this novel as much as Silence (although he makes the most of his limited time, for sure), but this is offset by a nearly equally interesting villain in Dolarhyde. Whereas Buffalo Bill plays second-fiddle to Lecter through much of Silence, Dolarhyde steals the show. We really get to see the factors that have molded his thinking and the way they conflict with each other within himself. And he's an interesting villain in himself. On several occasions Thomas steps into Dolarhyde's mind in everyday occurrances. What does a serial killer think when he's on a date? Driving a car? It's a fascinating look at a fascinating character. He's not quite Lecter, but he more than carries this story.
The plot was also a very pleasant surprise. There are enough twists to keep the story from ever becoming a standard copper/killer story. It delves right into the minds of the characters and I found it took me to some places I'd never been and never thought I'd go. It was surprising (and shocking) until the very last page.
Otherwise, the dialogue is crisp, the characters are rich, and the prose is superb. In comparison to The Silence of the Lambs, I would just simply say that they're in the same league, if that says something. It's almost an insult to the other to pick a favourite. They're both must reads.
Matty J
Rating: 3
Summary: Horror like I never hope to meet
Comment: Having seen both Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon movies, it was interesting to listen to the book on tape. As movies go, Silence seems the more powerful. But this book is enough to make anyone's skin crawl. And it isn't just the nature of the crimes or the killer that is spooky.
Will Graham, one of the FBI's profilers, is able to get inside the head of killers like Hannibal Lecter, the man he managed to put away, but not before being so badly injured that he nearly died. Because of that experience, he quit the FBI. When Jack Crawford asks for his help with a new serial killer, nicknamed The Tooth Fairy, Will's sense of responsibility makes him accept the assignment. Little does he know that this assignment will endanger him and those he loves.
In many ways, Harris established the basis for this sort of thriller. The one thing that spoils this recording is the narrator. His tone, often when reading the women's dialogue, is whiney and he isn't as able as some narrators to use different voices to differentiate between characters. That was a bit distracting and made it difficult to follow at times, esp when the listener leaves the story and comes back to it. Still, Red Dragon is interesting and powerful, whether in print or on audio.
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Title: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris ISBN: 0312924585 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 February, 1991 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Hannibal by Thomas Harris ISBN: 0440224675 Publisher: Dell Publishing Pub. Date: 23 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Black Sunday by Thomas Harris ISBN: 0451204158 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: THE HANNIBAL FILES by Daniel O'Brien, Adrian Rigelsford ISBN: 1903111196 Publisher: Trafalgar Square Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title:Manhunter (Restored Director's Cut Divimax Edition) ASIN: B00008V5RP Publisher: Anchor Bay Entertain Pub. Date: 08 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $17.98 |
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