It occurred to Dr. Lecter in the moment that with all his knowledge and intrusion, he could never entirely predict her, or own her at all. He could feed the caterpillar, he could whisper through the chrysalis; what hatched out followed its own nature and was beyond him. He wondered if she had the .45 on her leg beneath the gown. Clarice Starling smiled at him then, the cabochons caught the firelight and the monster was lost in self-congratulation at his own exquisite taste and cunning.

Harris remains close to his mother Polly and reportedly calls her every night no matter where he is and often discusses particular scenes from his work with her. If you met him you would think he was a choirmaster. Harris's friend and literary agent Morton Janklow said of him: "He's one of the good guys.

Thomas Harris (born April 11 1940) is an American author and screenwriter best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character Hannibal Lecter. All of his works have been made into films the most notable being the multi-Oscar winning The Silence of the Lambs which became only the third film in Academy Award history to sweep the Oscars in major categories.