Rating: 
Summary: Harris should have waited a little longer and done it right
Review: As a fan of both Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, I must say I was disappointed by Hannibal. It was an interesting, compelling read that, had I not already developed a relationship with the characters, would have stood well on its own. Unfortunately, Harris took several plot paths that drove me crazy. Much like many prison films from the '70s attempted to make the viewer feel compassion for murderers and rapists by showing these characters in situations where they are mistreated by the guards, (They're murderers for goodness sake! big deal if the guards don't let them watch HBO!!!!) Lecter is being persued by individuals who are arguably as dispicable as himself, causing the reader to feel empathy for the monster who deserves none. Harris also used the tact that I have found to be a favorite of John Grisham. If enough money is involved, even the most rightous person would murder. I don't buy it. I HATE what he did to Starling. He took a strong willed, heroine and reduced her to a pathetic Patty Hearst character who develops a relationship with the devil simply because he "understands" her. The book was not terrible by any means. It was an entertaining page turner that I could hardly put down....Until the final chapter where I was tempted to throw it!
Rating: 
Summary: A Brilliant Disturbing Book!
Review: I don't understand all the one star reviews of this book. Even if one dislikes the plot, a one star rating is ludicrous -- Thomas Harris is a poet, a deranged poet, but a poet nevertheless. For me, this is the Book of the Year.
Rating: 
Summary: What is That Smell?
Review: This is a monstrous and disturbing book. Monstrous poorly written and disturbingly shoddy workmanship. I was quite horrified. Briefly, I entertained the possibility that my reaction was one intended by the author. After all, he succeeded in scaring me. Alas, I've weighed the evidence and am forced to conclude that he scared me entirely by accident. All my feelings of horror arose from the cheap ploys, the naked lunges to twang the reader's heartstrings, the rampant inconsistencies and, most telling, the author's unchecked self indulgence. So much is wrong with it that I used up all my energy on preliminaries and found myself spent long before I ever arrived at the ending. I would have been even more horrified had I spent money on this thing, thus inadvertently encouraging further work along the same lines. I can accept that Harris is laughing all the way to the bank. I bear in mind that nothing can rationalize and excuse such rotten work like heaps of money. He has had a great deal of credibility stored up with his wide readership. Now, he's traded it all for a large cash infusion - probably superfluous after his past success. It seems like the story behind the book is as banal as the story in the book. It's just boring that it would all boil down to appetite and greed in both tales. One thing makes me laugh. I can't believe what bad taste Hannibal has! I can't believe what bad taste Harris has! Too funny. It's almost as if he planned... no. Couldn't be.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, but a little over the top.
Review: I've been a big fan of Thomas Harris' novels, going all the way back to Black Sunday. I loved both Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs, and I've reread both of them. Silence, in particular, is a pretty tough act to follow. As far as Hannibal is concerned, I agree with a number of my fellow readers about the quality of the writing, which for the most part is excellent. And, as with Silence, it is obvious that Harris has done plenty of research about the places and the objects he puts in his story. The book jumps around quite a bit, but there's some terrific character development (in particular, we really get a strong sense of the origins of Lecter's impulses). I was disappointed though to see Jack Crawford's character rendered virtually sterile in this story. And even Clarice, who was so strong and intuitive in Silence, seems a bit more vulnerable (and even naive) than one would expect. I found the last couple of chapters more irritating than anything else, not because of the "gross-out factor", but more because of the complete departure from reality. One of the best aspects of Silence was its believability; in Hannibal, Harris takes the small strain of believability that exists in the early parts of the book and throws it right out the window. I think it'll be tough to do a movie out of this without completely rewriting the last quarter of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Lecter is less frightening than his dandy clothes
Review: In high school I was taught that fiction (novels, movies, etc.) is the sum of three elements: Story, Setting and Characters. It's as simple a scheme as you can get, but when it comes to judging a book, it works. Judged by these conventional parameters, Hannibal is unsatisfying. The story, unlikely and sometimes boring, adds nothing to what was told in The Silence of the Lambs, it lacks the thrill of the search, the investigation job is almost always behind the scenes, the action is always so unnaturally conceived that makes me wonder why it was there and to what purpose. The setting, since I'm Italian, was another disappointment. I hope Mr Harris didn't do a lot of research, because he would have learned the same things about Italy just by listening to the old cheap jokes. His Florence is so laughable and unlikely, his portrait of the cultural institutions so amateurish and uninformed, his knowledge of Italian society so poor that makes me think he was speaking of another country. As for the US part, I can't tell, the usual interjurisdictional stuff, lots of let-me-tell-you-something lines and he was done. The characters: Starling is a She-Rambo waiting for Mr. Right, unfit for both these roles, like the ones I've seen in too many movies and, not too miss a common place, Harris even puts her behind the wheel of an All-American muscle car. In a word, Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, the glamourous steel mill working girl was real life, in comparison. Pazzi, the Italian investigator, looks Italian only when he's riding a moped. Hannibal is less frightening than his worn-out dandy tastes and it's unbelievable how he manages not to get caught, given his ability to get noticed. As for the others, they're just ill-conceived macguffins to bring Hannibal back to his homeland.
Rating: 
Summary: Something's Not Right in This Kitchen
Review: Like a long-anticipated meal, Hannibal is bound to disappoint, if only a little. The sequel to the amazing Silence of the Lambs feels and reads as if it has been worked over again and again, a little too much salt here, too much pepper added to take away the bite of the salt, too much sugar to balance the spice. There is a lack of balance in this book that is worrisome. The reader is troubled by frequent tense changes, from present to past, especially at the beginning of chapters. Only too late do you realize that what you are "hearing" is, possibly, Lecter's own personal narrative as he strolls through the memory palace in his head, wandering from room to room to savor experiences long past. There are moments of brilliance here, such as a delightful scene on an airplane in which Lecter, a monster sought on several continents, is irritated by a small boy who wants to share the doctor's lunch. The opening scene, a botched raid on a drug factory, reintroduces Clarice Starling in stark, brilliant, cutting light, and she never shines as brightly again. There are things amiss in this novel, as one might find in a fruit de mer royale left only hours too long out of the sea, or medallions of veal francaise made with RealLemon and Parkay. Many central characters are neglected almost to the point of becoming comic book caricatures. This is especially true of the primary antagonists, Mason Verger and his anabolically enhanced sibling Margot. When all is said and done, we know little or nothing about these scoundrels, except that they were, somehow, a little evil and vindictive. So, what's to like? Why give this long-awaited story four stars? There is something deeply disturbing in the last ten chapters, which make up a macabre, scintillatingly frightening short story inside the novel. It is at this point, when you believe that all the action is completed and the story is drawing to a close, that Hannibal shows its true colors. Like a dessert of fresh fruit in jasmine syrup, these last chapters wash the palate of all the shortcomings of the previous courses of this meal. This is not a dessert to be ingested just before bed, however, as it may return on you in the night. Do yourself a favor. Read for the poetry rather than the plot, until you think the plot is finished. From that point on, Hannibal is a thorougly satisfying, incredibly disturbing look at genuine psychopathy and malevolence in action. You may discount the first seven-eighths of this novel, but you will return again and again to smack your lips over its ending. Can't wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Dreadful and predictable
Review: One can rationalize for several squarely typed inches here but nothing can excuse the cruelties, large and small which permeate these pages. Harris has run out of places to go and the only suspense left is whether one monster will have the chance to wreak revenge on another monster. Who cares and why should we? With a large Italian section which is utterly predictable (the only question being what gruesome way some will die) and an ending which tries to be poetic and winds up unbelievable and foolish. A waste of time and a precipitous drop from his earlier work.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Found it hard to put this one down. Character development throughout the book is masterful. If you liked "Silence", read the book...
Rating: 
Summary: Think of Lost World or the Last Don
Review: Just as Mario Puzo, the genius who gave us the Godfather also produced the Last Don and Michael Crichton followed Jurassic Park with Lost World, Thomas Harris has taken what was a stellar record and added a severe blemish. Dislikable characters, implausible plot turn after implausible plot turn and absurd ending and you have a real dud. JODI and ANTHONY if you are reading this, take my advice, do not agree to make this movie, do not give this a second life, let it die or get someone else to play the parts. This book needs to be priced more than 50% off for you to get your money's worth.
Rating:
Summary: High expectations.
Review: High expectations. I think this is what everbody had after "Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs." "Hannibal" is not a bad book, although it is a bit outlandish and far-fetched at some points. It merely deviates from what Thomas Harris had previously established. Some people may not like this. My response,"You didn't have to buy it in the first place." I must say myself that the end was both a twist and a grotesque suprise. I think that the ending has effected many positive opinions about this book. For those who were expecting something on the level of "Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs," you musn't expect Thomas Harris to stay on the same literary lines he has all the time. As for Stephen King's review, I think he summarizes it pretty well. By the way, I must argue with the reader from Ohio who says both Stephen King and Thomas Harris lack a good editor. Apparently, the reader doesn't understand the concept of being an editor.
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