Hannibal (Harris novel) highest bestselling novel in 1999. Hannibal (Harris novel) Hannibal is a novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 1999. It is the third in his series featuring Dr. Hannibal Lecter and the second to feature FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The novel takes place seven years after the events of "The Silence of the Lambs" and deals with the intended revenge of one of Lecter's victims. It was adapted as a film of the same name in 2001, directed by Ridley Scott. Elements of the novel were incorporated into the second season of the NBC television series "Hannibal", while
Clarice Starling horror when she witnessed the lambs being slaughtered. Her uncle was so angry that he sent her to live in a Lutheran orphanage, where she spent the rest of her childhood. According to the novel, Starling attended the University of Virginia as a double major in psychology and criminology. During that time, she spent two summers working as a counselor in a mental health center. Starling first met Crawford when he was a guest lecturer at UVA. His criminology seminars were a factor in her decision to join the FBI. During the investigation, Starling is assigned to coax Lecter into