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Cover of The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

The Silence of the Lambs

Thomas Harris

  • 352 pages · about 6 hours
  • First published 1988
  • 72 editions
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1 About this book

Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, is sent on what seems a small errand: to present a questionnaire to Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and murderer held in a Maryland mental institution. The errand is connected with a case the Bureau cannot solve, that of a serial murderer known as Buffalo Bill, and Lecter may be able to help, if he chooses and at a price. Thomas Harris's novel, published in 1988, follows Red Dragon, in which Lecter first appeared.

  • Psychology
  • Serial murderers
  • Serial murders
  • Mystery
  • Thrillers
  • Mystery & detective, women sleuths
  • Autopsy
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation

2 What to expect

A crime thriller and psychological horror novel: an FBI trainee hunting a serial murderer must draw clues from another, the imprisoned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter. Their interviews, a contest of wits, are the core of the book, alongside careful police procedure. It is taut and fast, gruesome in places, and its portrayal of the murderer she is hunting has been criticized as transphobic.

Good for readers who want: a psychological thriller, a duel of wits, and a tense, dark read.

3 About Thomas Harris

Born 1940

William Thomas Harris III (born September 22, 1940) is an American writer. He is the author of a series of suspense novels featuring the character Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, including The Silence of the Lambs, which became the third film to win Academy Awards in all of the five major categories.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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