Bill Crider
Break out the fava beans and Chianti:. Serial killer
Hannibal
"the Cannibal" Lecter returns in Hannibal, Thomas Harris'
finally
delivered, long-awaited sequel to The Silence of the Lambs,
his
blockbuster bestseller that has sold some 10 million
copies
worldwide since its 1988 publication.
Today, Delacorte announced it will publish the new book,
a
480-page, $27.95 hardcover, on June 8 in a one-day
national
laydown. Based on just one day's response from accounts,
Dell,
which holds U.S. and Canada hard/soft rights to the
book,
projected that a 500,000-copy first printing is looking
likely and
"will probably go up," said president and publisher Carole
Baron.
The book is also a Main Selection of the Book of the
Month
Club with an audio version to be published simultaneously
by
Random Audio.
According to Delacorte, the new novel opens seven years
after
Dr. Lecter's stunning escape from the authorities, the climax
of
the earlier book, as one of his earlier victims uses FBI
Agent
Clarice Starling, also featured in Silence, as bait to draw
the
doctor out in the open to wreak revenge. Baron wouldn't
divulge
much more of the plot, but did note that a scene of the book
takes
place in Florence, which brings to mind the rumors that
popped
up in 1994 when Harris attended the Milan-based trial of
Pietro
Pacciani, a farmer accused of being a serial killer. Harris
was seen
chatting extensively with the detective who launched
the
investigation, fueling speculation that Pacciani might be
the
subject of his next book. Baron would only say that "none
of
what you've read about the plot before in the papers is
true," and
that Harris "has written the kind of rich, complex book
that
booksellers will love to sell."
Baron, who said she knew for the last six months or so that
the
manuscript might be coming this year, received Hannibal from
the
reclusive Harris on March 23. It has been quite a wait; over
a
decade ago, she signed Harris to a reported $5,750,000
two-book
deal, of which this sequel is the first book (BOMC's deal
was
also at this time). Harris's first two books, Black Sunday
(1973)
and Red Dragon (1981) were published by Putnam in
hardcover,
then reprinted by Bantam; Baron acquired the paperback
rights
for these books for Dell at the time of her deal. St.
Martin's is the
U.S. publisher of The Silence of the Lambs; after the news of
the
sequel delivery, SMP announced a 300,000 re-release of a
mass
market edition of the book, to feature a new cover, as well
as a yet
undetermined new printing of a trade paperback edition of
the
book, which had been issued last year at the book's
tenth
anniversary.
According to Harris's literary agent, Mort Janklow, all
those
involved in the Academy Award winning 1991 film
adaptation
of The Silence of the Lambs--director Jonathan Demme,
actors
Anthony Hopkins (Lecter) and Jodie Foster (Starling)--have
just
been sent a copy of Hannibal. The rights background for
this
book, even for Hollywood, is particularly complex. Dino
De
Laurentiis has some claim on the Lecter character since
he
produced Manhunter, the film adaptation of the Red
Dragon,
in which the character of Lecter first appears. De
Laurentiis
previously hammered out a one-picture agreement with
Orion
for its release of its The Silence of the Lambs
adaptation.
Additionally, due to a 1992 out-of-court settlement, De
Laurentiis
must give Universal to first negotiation/last refusal
opportunity
to bid on domestic rights to this sequel; if De Laurentiis
chooses
not to exercise his rights to produce the sequel, Universal
will
have right to take its place.--Judy Quinn
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