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Will Hannibal the Cannibal eat Hollywood? | page 1, 2, 3

Still, a decade is a heck of a long time. In just the past 10 years, MGM has had half a dozen different owners, Columbia Pictures half a dozen different bosses and Bruce Willis half a dozen different hair colors (all variations on bald, of course). During the same period, the reclusive Harris has been hunkered down, alternating between Miami Beach (where he lives not far from Anne Rice) and Sag Harbor, N.Y., trying to craft a sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs." It apparently wasn't easy. Harris himself provided a clue when, three years ago, at the invitation of his film agent, the writer visited the nearby Florida location shoot of the film "Striptease." On the set, he found himself being grilled by a gofer. "Gee, I'm such a fan of your books, Mr. Harris," she said. "Where's the next one?" In response, Harris, ever the polite Mississippian, drawled: "Let me tell you about my day. I get up at 8 o'clock in the morning. At 8:30 a.m., I leave the house and I arrive at my office at 8:37. I stay in the office until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I get in my Porsche and I'm home at 2:03 because the one-way streets make it faster for me to drive. And between 8:36 a.m. and 2 p.m., I'm doing one of three things: I'm writing. I'm staring out the window. Or I'm writhing on the floor."

Meanwhile, the publishing industry and the film community were squirming as well. Carole Baron, until recently the head of Dell Publishing, had shelled out $5 million -- an unheard-of sum 10 years ago, mind you -- for the next chapter in the life of Hannibal the Cannibal. Harris steadfastly refused to talk about his work; sources close to the onetime Associated Press newsman say that while penning "Hannibal" he preferred to talk about wine than his creative process.

An epicure described as being as gentle in person as he is ghoulish in mind, Harris rarely interrupted his practice of spending every summer in Paris. However, he made a detour to Italy in 1994 and joined hundreds of spectators on the opening day of the trial of the "Monster of Florence," Pietro Pacciani, accused of being one of Europe's worst serial killers and charged with committing eight double murders from 1968 to 1985. Harris' presence made headlines and, immediately, speculation ran wild that the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs" would be based on the Pacciani murders, or at the very least set in Italy. And, in fact, some of the plot does refer to an "Il Monstro" and some of the action does take place in Florence.

The book's convoluted plot is not easy to sum up. At the beginning, agent Starling finds herself unfairly under suspicion within the FBI after a drug raid goes bad. She's still looking for Lecter, as are a lot of people, because they want either to kill him or to collect the multimillion-dollar bounty on his head. Starling's put on administrative leave; once she finds Lecter, she eventually saves the bad doctor from an unspeakable fate -- death by pig. But soon, he's convinced her -- with the help of hypnosis, manipulative therapy and drugs -- that she loves him. Finally, away they go to Buenos Aires to live happily ever after as a couple.

In between, much mayhem and many murders transpire, most of which are totally fiendish. And then there's the part where Clarice offers Hannibal a chance to suckle on her breast. YUCK!

Nikki Finke is Salon's Hollywood correspondent and the West Coast editor for New York magazine.

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• Feeding frenzy over new 'Hannibal' book

Official Thomas Harris Web site