Thomas Harris's second novel, Red Dragon (1981), introduced readers to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a fascinating, brilliant killer given to eating his victims. Hannibal, "the Cannibal," considered psychotic himself, provided psychological insight to help FBI agent Will Graham track down the Red Dragon serial killer. At the same time he betrayed Graham by giving the Red Dragon Graham's home address. Harris's third novel, The Silence of the Lambs (1987), expanded Hannibal Lecter into an even more interesting Janus-faced character who, while locked up in a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane, could still kill and at the same time aid the FBI in capturing a serial killer. This time, Lecter worked with Clarice Starling, a young agent still in training. Clarice emerged as worthy of Hannibal's otherwise generally bored and condescending attention: a woman of courage, discipline and compassion, unschooled in matters of culture and taste, but with the intellect and...