7-16-2026 Latham's Last Words: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- Donna Latham
- 18 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Welcome to Latham's Last Words, where I give you my last words on vintage horror books I've enjoyed. To start off, I'm going to talk about The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Now most wouldn't consider this horror, but with a cannibal and a killer who is building a suit out of human skin, how could it not be horror. I didn't realize this book had been written in the 80's until I read it for the first time. It still holds up to this day.
The psychological horror between Lecter and Starling is done so well you almost feel like you're in Starling's shoes. The way he brings out her most traumatic memory is brilliant. And she doesn't fight him on it either. From my point of view, she was using Lecter not only for information on Buffalo Bill, but almost as a therapist too. And let's not forget the trauma that Buffalo Bill himself experienced as a child.
I absolutely loved all the different story lines within the story. So many different relationships between all of the characters.
I found it so hard to hate Lecter. I know he was supposed to be the second "monster" of the book. But his character was so well written and complex I felt like I would want to be friends with him. Not sure what that says about me.
In the beginning of the book I found Clarice's inner monologues immature and I know she is a young FBI trainee, but I would think you would have to be in your mid 20's to even start training to be an FBI agent so it didn't really fit my idea of how she would act. I did notice as the book progressed that her inner monologues "matured" so maybe that was Harris' way of showing how she grows throughout the book.
The only character I found to be superflous was Ardelia Mapp. Besides being Clarice's cheerleader, I don't think she really added anything to the story.
Even though I was late to the game with reading Silence, I can honestly say it's one of the top books I've read this year.
Get it here!