"Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris (Hannibal Lecter series, Book 1)

Thomas Harris introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter in this psychological thriller from 1981. 

A serial killer is wiping out whole families, and FBI agent Will Graham has been dragged out of retirement and back into the world of profiling by his former boss to try to catch a madman. Years ago, catching the evil genius Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter cost Graham his career and almost cost him his sanity. As Graham studies the grisly crime scenes left behind by 'the Tooth Fairy,' he knows there's only one person who can help him unravel the twisted ravings of a killer before he strikes again. Visiting Lecter in prison begins a deadly cat-and-mouse game between Graham and two of the most dangerous killers he's ever faced.

"A gruesome, graphic, gripping thriller...extraordinarily harrowing!" -- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)