The Silence of the Lambs (novel) The Silence of the Lambs (novel) 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
Clarice Starling opens fire towards the sound, killing him. Weeks later, Lecter writes Starling a letter from a hotel room somewhere in Detroit asking her if the lambs have stopped screaming. The final scene of the novel has Starling sleeping peacefully at a friend's vacation house at the Maryland seashore. In "Hannibal", Starling is in her early thirties and a full-fledged FBI agent, although her career has been held back by Paul Krendler, a Department of Justice official who resents her for rejecting his sexual advances. She takes part in a bungled drug raid, in which she returns fire after a drug