The Silence of the Lambs
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4.7 • 983 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
An ingenious, masterfully written novel, Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs is a classic of suspense and storytelling and the basis for the Oscar award-winning horror film starring Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
A serial murderer known only by a grotesquely apt nickname—Buffalo Bill—is stalking particular women. He has a purpose, but no one can fathom it, for the bodies are discovered in different states. Clarice Starling, a young trainee at the F.B.I. Academy, is surprised to be summoned by Jack Crawford, Chief of the Bureau's Behavioral Science section. Her assignment: to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and grisly killer now kept under close watch in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Lecter's insight into the minds of murderers could help track and capture Buffalo Bill.
Smart and attractive, Starling is shaken to find herself in a strange, intense relationship with the acutely perceptive Lecter. His cryptic clues—about Buffalo Bill and about her—launch Clarice on a search that every reader will find startling, harrowing, and totally compelling.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Even though Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs is one of the best horror movies ever made, the book is even better. It’s the second Thomas Harris thriller featuring the suave, sophisticated, and cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (after 1981’s great Red Dragon). Here, Harris’ most famous character takes a supporting role to FBI trainee Clarice Starling, who’s hot on the trail of a psychotic killer nicknamed Buffalo Bill. Clarice is as compelling a personality as Lecter, using insights gained from her abusive childhood to figure out her target. Warning: This is lights-on-all-night scary reading.
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.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic
One of the best thrillers of all time! Caution: Not for the faint of heart.
Fantastic Book
A great book in the Hannibal Lecter series. My definite favorite. Harris properly captures the essence of the criminally insane, and the usage of this in the development of characters makes these books great.
A classic
Not my first time to read this classic…every time I read it, it’s always thoroughly thrilling and highly entertaining!