The Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris, is even better than the successful movie. Like his earlier Red Dragon, the book takes us inside the world of professional criminal investigation. All the elements of a well-executed thriller are working here--driving suspense, compelling characters, inside information, publicity-hungry bureaucrats thwarting the search, and the clock ticking relentlessly down toward the death of another young woman. What enriches this well-told tale is the opportunity to live inside the minds of both the crime fighters and the criminals as each struggles in a prison of pain and seeks, sometimes violently, relief.
Clarice Starling, a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee, is dispatched by her boss, Section Chief Jack Crawford, the FBI's most successful tracker of serial killers, to see whether she can learn anything useful from Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter's a gifted psychopath whose nickname is "The Cannibal" because he likes to eat parts of his victims. Isolated by his crimes from all physical contact with the human race, he plays an enigmatic game of "Clue" with Starling, providing her with snippets of data that, if she is smart enough, will lead her to the criminal. Undaunted, she goes where the data takes her. As the tension mounts and the bureaucracy thwarts Starling at every turn, Crawford tells her, "Keep the information and freeze the feelings." Insulted, betrayed, and humiliated, Starling struggles to focus. If she can understand Lecter's final, ambiguous scrawl, she can find the killer. But can she figure it out in time? --Barbara Schlieper
From Publishers Weekly
In this thrillingly effective follow-up to Harris's masterful 1981 suspense novel Red Dragon, the heroine is new, but the villain isn't: Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the evil genius who played a small but crucial role in the earlier novel, returns, to mesmerizing effect. When a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill (he kidnaps, slays and skins young women) begins a crosscountry rampage, FBI trainee Clarice Starling tries to interview Lecter, a psychiatrist whose brilliant insights into the criminally insane are matched only by his bloodlusthe's currently imprisoned for nine murders, and would like nothing more than the chance to kill again. Lecter, a vicious gamesman, will offer clues to the murderer's pattern only in exchange for information about Clarice, analyzing her with horrible accuracy from the barest details. When Bill strikes again, the agent begins to realize that Lecter may know much more, and races against time and two twisted minds. Harris understands the crafting of literary terror as very few writers do; readers who put themselves in his good, coldblooded hands will lose sleep, and demand a sequel. 200,000 first printing; $200,000 ad/promo; BOMC main selection. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In this intelligent, fast-paced thrillerwhich is also brutal and gruesomeagent Clarice Starling of the FBI's behavioral science section is assigned to conduct a psychological profile of Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist imprisoned for serial murder. Uncooperative at first, Lecter then says he can help identify a serial killer who has eluded authorities for months. Lecter's aid proves invaluable, and Starling soon finds herself using one madman to catch another. Harris ( Black Sunday, 1975; Red Dragon , 1981) has written a story, although not for the squeamish, that is hard to put down. Lonnie Beene, West Texas State Univ. Lib., CaynonCopyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Razor-sharp entertainment, beautifully constructed and brilliantly written. Thrillers don't come any better than this."-- Clive Barker
"A virtual textbook on the craft of suspense, a masterwork of sheer momentum that rockets seamlessly toward its climax... Harris is quite simply the best suspense novelist working today."-- The Washington Post
"A psychological thriller so deftly woven and gripping that a reader can hardly get through one sentence fast enough to discover what's in the next."-- Associated Press
Review
"Razor-sharp entertainment, beautifully constructed and brilliantly written. Thrillers don't come any better than this."-- Clive Barker
"A virtual textbook on the craft of suspense, a masterwork of sheer momentum that rockets seamlessly toward its climax... Harris is quite simply the best suspense novelist working today."-- The Washington Post
"A psychological thriller so deftly woven and gripping that a reader can hardly get through one sentence fast enough to discover what's in the next."-- Associated Press
Book Description
Hannibal Lecter. The ultimate villain of modern fiction. Read the five-million-copy bestseller that scared the world silent...
A young FBI trainee. An evil genius locked away for unspeakable crimes. A plunge into the darkest chambers of a psychopath's mind-- in the deadly search for a serial killer...
From the Publisher
Praise for The Silence of the Lambs: "A virtual textbook on the craft of suspense. A masterwork of sheer momentum that rockets seamlessly toward its climax.... Harris is quite simply the best suspense novelist working today." The Washington Post "Superb." --The New York Times "Beautifully written." --The San Francisco Examiner "Fast paced...intriguing...exciting." --Chicago Tribune
About the Author
Thomas Harris is the bestselling author of Black Sunday, Red Dragon and Hannibal.
Silence of the Lambs FROM OUR EDITORS
How to capture an insane serial murderer? Why not confront the cannibalistic Dr. Hannibal Lecter and probe his twisted mind in an attempt to hunt down your wanted man? Well, that was ambitious FBI agent Clarice Starling's intention. But her scheme opens Clarice to secrets even more frightening and dangerous.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Hannibal Lecter. The ultimate villain of modern fiction. Read the five-million-copy bestseller that scared the world silent...
A young FBI trainee. An evil genius locked away for unspeakable crimes. A plunge into the darkest chambers of a psychopath's mind--in the deadly search for a serial killer...
FROM THE CRITICS
New York Times
Superb.
Chicago Tribune
Fast paced...intriguing...exciting.
Washington Post
A virtual textbook on the craft of suspense. A masterwork of sheer momentum that rockets seamlessly toward its climax.... Harris is quite simply the best suspense novelist working today.
San Francisco Examiner
Beautifully written.
AudioFile - Elizabeth Futas
Even if youﾽve already loved the movie and the book, youﾽll still love this production of this wildly successful thriller. Student FBI agent Clarice Starling and madman Hannibal Lecter are unlikely partners to find a serial killer on the loose. This telling should not be missed. Acclaimed and popular narrator Frank Muller does his usual great narration by changing timbre and the level of his voice and sometimes his accent. The characters sound exactly as they should in this wonderful production. Itﾽs probably wise to stay away from listening to this while eating, but otherwise itﾽs a triumph. E.F. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Clarice Starling has been as imitated within the thriller genre as Lecter. Consider her influence on The X-Files, for example; without Clarice, there'd be no Agent Scully, or at least no Agent Scully so wise or -- and this is the thing -- so good....Thomas Harris, former newspaperman, current recluse/thriller-writing genius, treats Clarice with exquisite tenderness and respect. Take the name, for instance, a piquant blend of clarity and radiance and scrappy little bird. Clarice has survived a childhood of poverty and abandonment, and with economy and grace, Harris shows us her determination to maintain her hard-won confidence in the face of every creep and bureaucratic obstacle that comes her way. — Joyce Millman
Art & Photography
Book Info
