4. The Silence Of The Lambs - Thomas Harris
Although possibly lesser than known than its screen counterpart, the novel by the same name is just as scary. Like the films, The Silence of the Lambs is the sequel to Red Dragon and centres on young FBI trainee, Clarice Starling who meets cannibal, Hannibal Lecter who is currently in prison serving a life sentence and what Clarice's boss really wants is Lecter's help to solve a number of murders committed by a serial killer named "Buffalo Bill". Thomas Harris' 1988 novel is superbly thrilling with twists and turns at every corner whilst not being explicitly gory, however Buffalo Bill's method of starving, killing and then skinning the women he kidnaps is not particularly pleasant. After its film adaptation in 1986, sales of the book continued to soar and the novel has often been referred to as one of the best thrillers of all time. What makes The Silence of the Lambs so much more powerful than any other thriller novel is the relationship between Clarice and Hannibal, FBI agent and killer, always making the reader somewhat uneasy over the uncertainty of Hannibal's real intentions.