New Hannibal Lecter novel due next fall

NEW YORK - Readers hungry for a good thriller can get ready to welcome an old friend: A new Hannibal Lecter novel, “Behind the Mask,” is coming next fall.

“Thomas Harris is the premier novelist of psychological suspense of our time,” said Irwyn Applebaum, president and publisher of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, which announced the book’s release Thursday.

“Millions of readers in 25 languages have wondered how Dr. Lecter developed his particular appetite for evil. This novel will satisfy their curiosity.”

Film rights for “Behind the Mask” have been acquired by the Dino DeLaurentiis Company, which produced the Hannibal movies, “Red Dragon” and “Hannibal.”

Harris has written three previous Lecter books: “Red Dragon,” “Hannibal” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” which was adapted into an Academy Award winning movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. Harris is also author of the best-selling thriller “Black Sunday.”

Damn... that was fast.

Harris usually only puts out on book every ten years or so.

So it sounds like it's a prequel. It would have to be since Harris destroyed the series with his ending to Hannibal.

That's what I thought. I'm surprised to see this given the supposed ill will between DeLaurentiis and Harris. I was under the impression that he wrote Hannibal to be unfilmable due specifically to DeLaurentiis's demands.

Without question, Mad Dawg, this is a perplexing development, considering the history behind Harris. The rumor I always heard was that he was hounded by his readership into writing a third book which he never wanted to, and then the bit about the movies as well. Because of all this, I was surprised to see this news.

Regarding the book, although I don't think Hannibal quite lives up to Red Dragon or Silence, I'm always welcoming to a new Harris book, Lecter or no.

Yeah, the title "Behind The Mask" sounds very much like a prequel...something I'm not really interesting in reading - unless he makes it a prequel and a sequel...in a kind of "Godfather II" way (flashing back and forth).

Didn't we get a bunch of info on Hannibal's youth in the book "Hannibal"? Or am I remembering things wrong? It's been a while since I read the novel.

The problem is if it is indeed a sequel, that's going to lead to problems with any filmed version - if only beacuse characters at the end of Hannibal the book are in a total different situation than characters at the end of Hannibal the movie.

So it it is indeed primarily a prequel...who plays a "young" Hannibal in the movie? Christian Bale? Leo DeCaprio?

i would think that a prequel would be the only option considering that he seemed to be writing the third one with the point being to piss off as many people as possible.

I don't remember much being said about his childhood in "Hannibal".

The rumors about his disagreement with De Laurentis may be overblown? Are there any direct quotes from him that woud lead someone to believe he didn't want to do another Hannibal book?

I would prefer a sequel--it could work something like this:



No spoilers for the fourth novel but put in tags for those who don't know how the third ended.

Ahhh, you're correct. It's been a while since I've read the book.

Personally, I really liked "Hannibal," although I didnt think a lot of the movie. If you read it as a black, black comedy, it worked quite well.

What's interesting is that the widely panned Hannibal movie isn't near as bad as the book in terms of stupid tactics and characters.

Harris is an amazing author. But I don't want to know what caused him to be a cannibal. It interesting to not know. I would like to see Harris move on; a trilogy was enough. I'm afraid De Lauentis bullied him into this; his only thing in life is to bring Lector to the screen, cause we all know what happens when he brings a certain ape to the screen.