The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

You never know what's going to pop up for free on iTunes. Last night an excerpt from Thomas Harris's latest Hannibal book appeared.

Hannibal Rising: Excerpt
Audible.com and Random House Audio are pleased to present this excerpt from Hannibal Rising (Unabridged). The complete audiobook will be available for download on December 5, 2006. He is one of the most haunting characters in all of literature. At last the evolution of his evil is revealed. Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck. He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him. Hannibal's uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki. Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France. But Hannibal's demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn. He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death's prodigy.