Red Dragon is a novel by American author Thomas Harris, first published in 1981. It is the first novel to feature the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. The story follows former FBI profiler Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to hunt a serial killer known as the Tooth Fairy. The book is a prequel to Harris's 1988 novel 'The Silence of the Lambs'.