In this work, as in all of Harris's fiction, we find psychological insight, attention to detail (in this case, the lingo of delusional psychosis and of law enforcement procedural work), and disturbing villains drawn from the ranks of those who most frighten us.

Discussion on any of Harris's works might consider his penchant for humanizing the inhuman, for suggesting the depths of good and evil in each of us, and for arguing that although good may triumph over evil, it often does so only at great cost. In Red Dragon, specific areas of interest include Harris's blurring of the lines between and good and evil (in, for example, the affinities he draws between his hero and his villains), his psychological insight into the bizarre world of Francis Dolarhyde, and his first use of what has become his most famous fictional creation, the psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter...