As a basic mystery/crime novel it is satisfactory, although it doesn't reach any further to make it truly exceptional. Perhaps it was my own biases and expectations entering into this book after being so impressed by the strong characters of the Silence of the Lambs movie, but I kept wanting there to be more to the character development. As far as villains go, Dolarhyde calls back to Norman Bates, which, although making him interesting, left me feeling that his backstory was a very familiar and predictable one. It's not necessarily that he was a poor or non-threatening killer, but when compared to the iconic presences of Bates and/or Lector himself, Dolarhyde falls a bit short. Overall, the story of Red Dragon fulfills what it needs to in order to be a satisfying serial killer novelization but doesn't warrant a reread.