Rating: 
Summary: Style is Nothing
Review: Unlike a lot of the people reviewing this book, I have no problem with Harris' plotting or use of his characters - What I do have a problem with is the fact that he is a really bad writer. I am not sure what his editor was thinking - he or she certainly wasn't editing the book - Harris has an infuriating habit of shifting tenses from present tense, to past tense, to future tense, often in the course of one paragraph. He seems unable to decide what his role as a narrator is - sometimes he acts as an omiscient narrator with insight into the characters thoughts and what is to happen in the future, sometimes he writes as an impartial observer, sometimes he just writes whatever comes to mind. He also appears to have failed to do any research beyond what he knows already - I don't know how accurate his descriptions of Florence are, but if his two mentions of Australia are anything to go on, I fear the entire book is innaccurate. He mentions tourists dropping Australian quarters (which do not and have never existed) into the collection box, and speaks of Australia's large gypsy population. I am afraid this is wrong. If Mr Harris was using Australia as an exotic place that noone really knows much about, he should have done a little bit of fact checking. Couple all of this with some of the most annoying metaphors ever written (eg a character's head moving toward the light "like a sunflower") and you have a book that needed a great deal of editing to get it into a form that should have been published. However, considering how much money "Hannibal" has made Mr Harris, my comments are probably unnecessary. Loved the plot, loved the ending, just hated reading the book.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 characters in search of an editor.
Review: Pompous, pretentious, pitiful! I have read many of the reader reviews - they were a far better read. I will not see the movie, nor read a future book. Disappointing drivel.Unfaithful (to say the least) to the characters he created.Try "Certain Prey" (John Sandford) this is an author whose sequels stand up to the originals.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely entertaining and worth the 8 year wait
Review: I first listened to the reading of Hannibal on audio tape and was amazed with the author's use of colorful language and eloquent expressions. In fact I was so moved from listening to the book, I felt compelled to also read it for fear I may have missed some little tidbit. It was just as wonderful the second time around. I thank Mr. Harris for having the integrity to write a book that tied all the pieces together in such a delightful and delectable way.
Rating: 
Summary: not as good as the prequel
Review: If you really sunk your teeth into "Silence of the Lambs" you have no choice but to read this sequel. Parts of it did have bite. However, it did drag in spots. The ending was ridiculous.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't have wished for a better sequel from Harris!
Review: After reading a few early luke warm reviews I was prepared for an anticlimactic sequel to Silence of the Lambs. With each page I became more and more engrossed with Harris's superbly crfated writing and his engaging tale of Hannibal Lector and Clarice Starling. This is without question the best book that Thomas Harris has written. A great summer read.
Rating: 
Summary: Tom Harris Serves Up a Delicious Read
Review: I almost didn't buy this book when I read some of the on-line reviews. I don't know what all the hoopla is about the "goriness", "violence" and "horror" of this book. If anyone has read "Red Dragon" or "Silence of the Lambs" they are ready for "Hannibal". As for being disappointed in the story, let me just say, I stayed up 'till 11:30 p.m. on a work night so I could read the last 120 pages. But, in all fairness, I can see why some are disheartened by the ending. Four words come to mind: "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle", when Sir Arthur killed off his much beloved character, there was a huge outcry (by the way, I am not revealing any secrets here), but remember, Hannibal and Clarice belong to Harris. The reason I only gave it four stars is because of the ending. Like a long anticipated meal at my favorite restaurant, Harris left me feeling just a little unsatisfied, as if I had savored the memory so long, that when the real thing was in front of me, it wasn't as good as I remembered. But Mr. Harris, thanks for once again delivering the goods, and now how about resurrecting Will Graham?
Rating:
Summary: Totally ruins the great characters created in Silence...
Review: I was very excited to read this book, since I enjoyed Silence of the Lambs so much. The book starts out well, has some luls, but ultimately kept my attention in what would happen next. However, Harris must have given up at the end, writers block maybe? It was sick, twisted, and demented so much so it made me sick to my stomach. In Silence, the dementia was at least believable. In Hannibal, it went off the deep end and instantly turned all the books to garbage. I truly don't believe Foster and Hopkins will sink to the level Harris has given what was a fascinating story by making the movie. There's something to be said for "quitting while you are ahead".
Rating:
Summary: What a disapointment!
Review: Like so many of Thomas Harris' fans I eagerly awaited word of when his next book would be published. When I read that it would be a follow-up to "The Silence of the Lambs" I was excited. Finally it was published and I was able to read this long awaited tome, "Hannibal". What a disappointment! The writing is not on a par with Harris' previous books, there is no flow, as there was in "Red Dragon" and "Lambs". There are too many divergences into secondary characters, such as Pazzi and his family and so little regarding Lecter. Mason Verger's character and history is nicely done. The lives of Francis Dolarhyde and Jame Gumb, in his previous books, gave insight into why they were as they were and how society has a hand in creating its own monsters but Lecter's childhood trauma is treated as and afterthought. An "Oh, by the way, this is why he eats parts of his victims". The ending is the most disappointing thing I have ever read. I don't understand Harris' reasoning unless the word "screenplay" was in the back of his mind. It seems as if the book was written to fulfill a contract, with someone looking over his shoulder. I do hope Mr. Harris writes another book, sooner than ten years from now, and that it has nothing to do with Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. This book is a mistake.
Rating:
Summary: THE "GODFATHER 3" OF THE SERIES
Review: I'm really tired of reading reviews defending this middle-finger of a novel. Sure, some scenes are well-crafted, Lecter's memory place is interesting, and the characters belong to Harris. But why does HANNIBAL seem to openly hate every reader/viewer who invested empathy in that most unlikely heroine, Clarice Starling? Reading this Grand Guinol cookbook, I felt that Harris sees us all as Annie Wilkes in MISERY. He went out of his way to ignore the realistic settings and motivations of his past novels out of, who knows, some private or perverse desire to not give us the "obvious" rematch of Clarice and Hannibal. Given how well-written and empathetic the first two novels were, of course we want some resolution! I could have taken something as improbable as Will Graham coming back (or perhaps more interesting, being in the Mason Verger vengeance role) than what we've been given. Thomas, couldn't you have given us a consistent trilogy and then run off to write your hallucinogenic art novel? I usually hate when filmmakers ignore a novelist's intentions, but I'm really hoping on this one occasion that, if this dreadful thing gets made, Demme and Co. gut all but the first chapter and start all over again...JODIE, ANTHONY, YOU'RE RICH ENOUGH!! DON'T DO IT!!
Rating:
Summary: Loved it, hope it isn't the end of Dr. Lector....
Review: Read this book in one sitting. Loved the ending and hope that this isn't the last we'll hear from Mr. Harris on Dr. Lector and Agent Starling... surely they will do more in their fictional lifetime. Well, Mr. Harris, share it with us please. Can't wait to see the movie..
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