Hannibal is a psychological horror crime thriller novel by American author Thomas Harris, published in 1999 by Delacorte Press. It is the third novel in Harris's series featuring the cannibalistic psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and the second to feature FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. The story picks up seven years after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, with Lecter living in Florence, Italy, under an assumed identity, while Starling faces disgrace at the FBI after a botched drug raid.
The novel explores themes of revenge, obsession, and the blurred lines between hunter and hunted. One of Lecter's only surviving victims, the wealthy and grotesquely disfigured Mason Verger, sets an elaborate trap to capture Lecter and feed him to a pack of specially bred wild boars. Starling becomes entangled in the plot, leading to a controversial and psychologically complex climax that divided readers and critics upon release.
Hannibal was a massive commercial success, debuting at number one on bestseller lists and selling over a million copies in its first weeks. However, it sparked significant debate among fans and literary critics for its darker tone and the evolving relationship between Lecter and Starling, which took a direction many found shocking. Despite the controversy, the novel cemented Hannibal Lecter as one of popular culture's most enduring and sophisticated villains.
