Seven years have passed since Dr. Hannibal Lecter escaped from custody, seven years since FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling interviewed him in a maximum security hosptial for the criminally insane. The doctor is still at large, pursing his own ineffable interests, savoring the scents, the essences of an unguarded world. But Starlingg has never forgotten Dr. Lecter and the metallic rasp of his seldom-used voice still sounds in her dreams. Mason Verger remembers Dr. Lecter too, and is obsessed with revenge. He was Dr. Lecter's sixth victim and he has survived to rule his own butcher's empire. From his respirator, Verger monitors every twitch in the worldwide web. Soon he sees that to draw the doctor, he must have the most exquisite and innocent-appearing bait; he must have what Dr. Lecter likes best.