The Silence of the Lambs The novel The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris is a psychological thriller about a young FBI agent trying to understand the mind of a cannibal who is also a serial killer. The novel starts out in Washington D.C. in the early 1990’s where a young FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, is out in the training area. She receives word from Jack Crawford, her commanding officer, that she has been selected to help him gather information for a serial killer database. Clarice is told that she will be interviewing Dr. Hannibal Lecter, an ex-psychiatrist turned serial killer. He not only kills his victims but also eats their flesh. After she is issued her gu