The Silence of the Lambs (novel)
First edition US cover
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| Author | Thomas Harris |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Hannibal Lecter |
| Genre | Horror, thriller, psychological horror |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
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Publication date
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1988 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 338 pp (hardcover) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 18049053 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3558.A6558 S5 1988 |
| Preceded by | Red Dragon |
| Followed by | Hannibal |
The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is the sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. Its film adaptation directed by Jonathan Demme was released in 1991 to box office success and critical acclaim.
Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, is asked to carry out an errand by Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI division that draws up psychological profiles of serial killers. Starling is to present a questionnaire to the brilliant forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for a series of murders.
Crawford's real intention, however, is to try to solicit Lecter's assistance in the hunt for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill", whose modus operandi involves kidnapping overweight women, starving them for about three or four days, and then killing and skinning them, before dumping the remains in nearby rivers. The nickname was started by Kansas City Homicide, as a sick joke that "he likes to skin his humps." Throughout the investigation, Starling periodically returns to Lecter in search of information, and the two form a strange relationship in which he offers her cryptic clues in return for information about her troubled and bleak childhood as an orphan.
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