Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Vintage Tuesdays - Baaaaaaaaaaa

The Silence of the Lambs

Written by: Thomas Harris

Released: May 19, 1988 by St. Martin's Press


Summary: Clarice Starling, a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee, is dispatched by her boss, Section Chief Jack Crawford, the FBI's most successful tracker of serial killers, to see whether she can learn anything useful from Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Lecter's a gifted psychopath whose nickname is "The Cannibal" because he likes to eat parts of his victims. Isolated by his crimes from all physical contact with the human race, he plays an enigmatic game of "Clue" with Starling, providing her with snippets of data that, if she is smart enough, will lead her to the criminal. Undaunted, she goes where the data takes her. As the tension mounts and the bureaucracy thwarts Starling at every turn, Crawford tells her, "Keep the information and freeze the feelings." Insulted, betrayed, and humiliated, Starling struggles to focus. If she can understand Lecter's final, ambiguous scrawl, she can find the killer. But can she figure it out in time?


I read this book during my tedious trips back and forth to school on the big yellow school bus. I think I had a spare that year too, so I would have been reading it then too.

One thing that I really remember about this book was the chemistry between Clarice and Lecter; the tension was extraordinary. But aside from that, the story itself was unlike anything else that I had ever read. It was chilling because it was set in a realm of complete possibility. I suppose that's why it's classified as a thriller.

This is a complete 10/10 book. It's one of those amazing reads that truly takes over all of your senses until you're looking over your shoulder for a cannibal who may be stalking you. Phenomenal.

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