Rating: 
Summary: Thomas Harris has finally tipped his hand.
Review: After reading Red Dragon, I developed a grudging respect for Hannibal Lecter. Silence of the Lambs further heightened Lecter's wicked genius, and I again found myself respecting the monster. In these two works, Thomas Harris created a contemporary Moriarty and gave him more dimension than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever gave the original. Now we come to Hannibal. In Hannibal, Thomas Harris pulls out all the stops and reveals Hannibal Lecter in all his gory. He explains Hannibal, which is a difficult job, but Harris pulls it off fairly well. Explanations lead to understanding. Understanding leads to compassion. Understanding does not lead to acceptance, however. Yet, it seems that Harris wants us to accept and perhaps even venerate Hannibal Lecter--never mind that Lecter's a serial killer who slices and dices and spices his victims. Personally, I find the idea of a serial killer hero quite interesting. What's so bad about killing off a few people now and then? What's so bad about manipulating the inferior minds of weak intellects and bending them to your own? And maybe those who have unlimited wealth and exquisite taste should be free to do as they please with the rumpled and ruffled lives of the proletariat. Maybe not. I think fans of Silence of the Lambs will be very disappointed in this book. I enjoyed reading it. I found it fascinating to get a glimpse of the mindstyles of the warped and infamous, but I think many readers will be troubled by Harris' choice of hero. I can't speak for serial killers, though. They might find it a good read. One last thought... I wonder what Thomas Harris does during all those years between books?
Rating: 
Summary: A great sequel as sequels go
Review: I really enjoyed this book, for many of the reasons others did not. I think Thomas Harris did exactly what he wanted to do, mainly write the continuation of Silence. I must say I was shocked at the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the time
Review: I started this book in a haze of expectation and finished it in a fog of disappointment. Tom Harris owes me five hours of my life back. I agree with the reviewer who wrote that Harris was more interested in continuing his series than in writing an actual book. This book owes more to Hollywood slasher films and bad horror writers like Stephen King than to any interest in continuing fascinating characters. In fact, I thought that with the exception of Hannibal himself, no character in this book acted in a way consistent with their former portrayals. Clarice's seduction by the dark side of the Force is certainly a prime example. I also didn't like anyone in this book - they were all awful people and I had no-one to root for. Perhaps others can enjoy novels where everyone is a total bastard, but I can't do it. I also think that things you imagine are far scarier than things you can see, so revealing so much of Hannibal's past was a big error - it makes him more understandable, and in my experience understanding reduces fear. Overall, I would say that if you absolutely have to read this book, get it from the library. Or you could wait for the inevitable movie, though many are saying it is an unfilmable book. That didn't stop them from filming Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, did it? This piece of junk will make a terrible movie, but let's face it, it's made a terrible novel, too.
Rating: 
Summary: I figured it out!
Review: Harris is Lecter and we readers are the pigs devouring this book. I can only assume Mason Verger is the mangled myopic publisher who feeds Harris to the readers. What a clever little inside joke played on the victims who bought this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Mature and pleasantly different from "Lambs"
Review: Boy, it's been a long time since I actually sat agape as I read a book. I got up in the middle of the night to finish it! I like how Harris made the character's lives take a big change from what would be expected by the end of "Lambs". I'm glad he didn't just go with a formulaic re-hash of a book he's already written. Don't get me wrong, "The Silence of the Lambs" is a masterpiece. Harris is one smart cookie for realizing that and not trying to repeat it.
Rating:
Summary: Truly disturbing yet oddly satiric
Review: Hannibal is one of the most unsettling books I've ever read and I can understand why people who like conventional suspense/horror stories are offended. In those books, the world is put back in order at the end; even Dracula gets staked. Not here. The fact that I was so angry--it kept me up for nights--at the conclusion, in which evil wins as Clarice becomes Lector's most appalling victim and the only other likable character in the novel, Crawford, gives himself willingly to a pathetic death because life holds no promise, is something of a tribute to Harris's art. Two-thirds through the book, it occured to me that Clarice and not Hannibal was his most remarkable creation, a rare and genuine heroine for modern fiction, someone I'd want to read about again. Turning her into a zombie cannibal escort for Lector is hard to take; in some ways, it betrays the reader and the novel itself, not to mention the wonderful Clarice. On the other hand, some of the most macabre set pieces are hilariously off the wall, from the slapstick airplane ride to any scene involving the loathsome Mason to the unbelievable last supper and Clarice's Oliver Twist line. A darker, more misanthropic work I can't imagine. Even Lector, despite numerous protests to the contrary, betrays himself: he lies, disembowling a character he promised not to. It's not a book for the squeamish, to put it mildly. Silence of the Lambs was a chess game that left both kings standing; Hannibal ends within the giant maw of unremitting bleakness. It puts the horror back in horror.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing and illogical
Review: After waiting with great anticipation for this book, I found it to be extremely disappointing. These were NOT the real characters created in Red Dragon or Silence of the Lambs. The most unbelievable part for me was the final outcome of Clarice Starling's character. I really expected a better story Mr. Thomas. Shame on you for this drivel. We all know you are capable of writing a GREAT story, I just wish you would have.
Rating:
Summary: Hannibal was just not worth reading. Too Bad.
Review: After waiting for years for another Thomas Harris, It was an incredible let down to read Hannibal. The charactors were not remotely similar to those in Silence of the Lambs, nor was the plot. Many parts of this book were so disturbing, that I had nightmeres.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, what an ending
Review: The pacing is slow towards the beginning, though it gradually picks up until there is a stunning conclusion which managed to surprise me. Hannibal is definitely a must read, but not for those with a weak stomach.
Rating:
Summary: Trees died for this?
Review: Complete garbage. Thomas Harris is the quintessential hack writer who has duped the public into believing he's actually talented. Not one aspect of this novel is believable, nor is it even interesting. Of all the things he could have done with these characters, he used the most inane plot knowing the lemming-like public would buy it anyway. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins would be wise to stay far away from this film project. Starling and Lecter have done 360 degree turnarounds from their previous incarnations. It's all too sordid to even go into---don't buy it or read it.
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