THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Feed your fears with the terrifying classic that introduced cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. FBI agent Will Graham once risked his sanity to capture Hannibal Lecter, an ingenious killer like no other. Now, he’s following the bloodstained pattern of the Tooth Fairy, a madman who’s already wiped out two families. To find him, Graham has to understand him. To understand him, Graham has only one place left to go: the mind of Dr. Lecter. “The best popular novel to be published in America since The Godfather .”—Stephen King “ Red Dragon is an engine designed for one purpose—to make the pulse pound, the heart palpitate, the fear glands secrete.”— The New York Times Book Review “A gruesome, graphic, gripping thriller...Extraordinarily harrowing.”— The Cleveland Plain Dealer “Want to faint with fright? Want to have your hair stand on end? Want to read an unforgettable thriller with equal parts of horror and suspense? Harris was obviously only warming up with his best seller Black Sunday.”— New York Daily News “Irresistible...A shattering thriller...Readers should buckle themselves in for a long night’s read because from the first pages...Harris grabs hold.”— Publishers Weekly “The scariest book of the season.”— The Washington Post Book World “Easily the crime novel of the year.”— Newsday A native of Mississippi, Thomas Harris began his writing career covering crime in the United States and Mexico and was a reporter and editor for the Associated Press in New York City. He is the author of Black Sunday , Red Dragon , The Silence of the Lambs , Hannibal , Hannibal Rising , and Cari Mora . Five of his books have been made into films, including most notably the multiple Oscar winner, The Silence of The Lambs . Will Graham sat Crawford down at a picnic table between the house and the ocean and gave him a glass of iced tea. Jack Crawford looked at the pleasant old house, salt-silvered wood in the clear light. "I should have caught you in Marathon when you got off work," he said. "You don't want to talk about it here." "I don't want to talk about it anywhere, Jack. You've got to talk about it, so let's have it. Just don't get out any pictures. If you brought pictures, leave them in the briefcase.  Molly and Willy will be back soon." "How much do you know?" "What was in the Miami Herald and the Times ," Graham said. "Two families killed in their houses a month apart. Birmingham and Atlanta. The circumstances were similar." "Not similar. The same." "How many confessions so far?" "Eighty-six when I called in this afternoon," Crawford said. "Cranks. None of them knew details. He smashes the mirrors and uses the pieces. None of them knew that." "What else did you keep out of the papers?" "He's blond, right-handed and really strong, wears a size eleven shoe. He can tie a bowline. The prints are all smooth gloves." "You said that in public." "He's not too comfortable with locks," Crawford said. "Used a glass cutter and a suction cup to get in the house last time. Oh, and his blood's AB positive." "Somebody hurt him?" "Not that we know of. We typed him from semen and saliva. He's a secretor." Crawford looked out at the flat sea. "Will, I want to ask you something. You saw this in the papers. The second one was all over the TV. Did you ever think about giving me a call?" "No." "Why not?" "There weren't many details at first on the one in Birmingham. It could have been anything--revenge, a relative." "But after the second one, you knew what it was." "Yeah. A psychopath. I didn't call you because I didn't want to. I know who you have already to work on this. You've got the best lab. You'd have Heimlich at Harvard, Bloom at the University of Chicago--" "And I've got you down here fixing fucking boat motors." "I don't think I'd be all that useful to you, Jack. I never think about it anymore." "Really? You caught two. The last two we had, you caught." "How? By doing the same things you and the rest of them are doing." "That's not entirely true, Will. It's the way you think." "I think there's been a lot of bullshit about the way I think." "You made some jumps you never explained." "The evidence was there," Graham said. "Sure. Sure there was. Plenty of it--afterward. Before the collar there was so damn little we couldn't get probable cause to go in." "You have the people you need, Jack. I don't think I'd be an improvement. I came down here to get away from that." "I know it. You got hurt last time. Now you look all right." "I'm all right. It's not getting cut. You've been cut." "I've been cut, but not like that." "It's not getting cut. I just decided to stop. I don't think I can explain it." "If you couldn't look at it anymore, God knows I'd understand that." "No. You know--having to look. It's always bad, but you get so you can function anyway, as long as they're dead. The hospital, interviews, that's worse. You have to shake it off