The Silence of the Lambs

By: Thomas Harris

Narrated by: Thomas Harris

Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

There's a killer on the loose who knows that beauty is only skin deep, and a trainee investigator who's trying to save her own hide. The only man that can help is locked in an asylum. But he's willing to put a brave face on, if it will help him escape.

©1989 Thomas Harris (P)2002 Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"The best book I've read in a very long time....Subtle, horrific and splendid." (Roald Dahl)
"A snapshot from hell." (Rolling Stone)

Great story

I have been meaning to get to this book for a long time and now that I have it does not disappoint Thomas Harris is not only a great narrator he is a fantastic author

Not what I expected

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. It was alright for a casual read

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Bit of anticlimax

What about Thomas Harris’s performance did you like?

Good reading

Do you think The Silence of the Lambs needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not sure.

Any additional comments?

This was advertised in other places as being one of the best books ever written, and I had been warned not to read it alone and at night, but none of it was a terrifying as advertised.

Great story to read before reading "Hannibal"

What made the experience of listening to The Silence of the Lambs the most enjoyable?

I listened to this a second time not long ago and it's just a great fictional story about a crazy psychiatrist which made it an enjoyable read / listen

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Silence of the Lambs?

Hannibal talking to the young FBI agent and extracting information out of her.

Have you listened to any of Thomas Harris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Just as good as the other Thomas Harris performances.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The same as the title of the book - Silence of the Lambs. Suspense thriller.

Any additional comments?

Listen to this novel before you listen to Hannibal and the latter will make a lot more sense. Enjoyed the book thoroughly and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspense thrillers.

Half of the story is not there!

What would have made The Silence of the Lambs better?

The book and story are very good, this abridged version is horrible!

Would you recommend The Silence of the Lambs to your friends? Why or why not?

No.

Any additional comments?

I was very disappointed.

Abridged and ruined

I am happy that I already knew this story from book and movie before I heard this audiobook, because it has been abridged so much that it makes no sense, the story simply does not work! Also I have to admit that Thomas Harris does not do a good job of narrating hos own book, as he uses an objective almost cold voice through out. I think it's time for a re-issue of this classic story and in the meantime I strongly advice anybody not familiar with the story to read the book and/or whatch the movie.

Adds nothing to the movie

The book came across as reading a screenplay. Absolutely nothing added on top of what you get from the movie. Some plot points I couldn’t even understand, and when looking at wikipedia I got confused because it mentioned a lot of things and information that I couldn’t remember from the book.

Turns out it’s an abridged version, and cut down to such an extent to be completely pointless. Such a disappointment.

Harris reading is acceptable over all, but never engaging or good. Sometimes it jumps between scenes and locations without any pause or change in inflection to indicate to the listener what happened. A few times I had to skip back a bit and relisten to not become completely disoriented when they seemingly teleport across locations and new people suddenly are in the room.