Rating: 
Summary: Damn you, Fame!
Review: I had high hopes for this book. I still had those hopes and felt a bit giddy as I started the book and actually liked it. But I thought the character development of everyone but Lecter and Mason was pathetic. Even Starling was not given enough attention. Everyone just seemed to get skipped over so more creepy, whacked out stuff could be divulged about Lecter and Mason. And the ending! What the heck happened? It's like Harris just decided to end the book um ..........let's see...........um..........this way, yeah! I felt like I should check myself into the sanitarium after I finished this book. I could only shake my head in total confusion. And trust me, the eventual movie with this ending will disappoint all but the truly mentally ill.
Rating: 
Summary: I really enjoyed this book!
Review: What's all the complaining about? If you want a warm, fuzzy read don't read Thomas Harris. If you want to go on a warped journey, you're in the right place. My only complaint is that I waited 10 years for this book and finished it in 4 days. I wish I would have drawn out the pleasure. Those people harping on the ending, re-read the book, it fits. I hope they don't make a movie of this book just because there was way to much happening to fit into 2 hours.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story, but the book-on-tape is SERIOUSLY flawed.
Review: My review deals only with the decision of the narrator of the unabridged audio to speak the lines of the character Mason, the man with no lips, as if he himself had no lips. So what you get is a lot of incomprehensible drivel, as the letters b, f, m, p, v, w, and maybe others, are lost. This was a very flawed reading, for that reason.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete waste of $$$$
Review: Like "The Phantom Menace", this book may be a victim of over-hype. On its merits, however, this book is still one of the worst disappointments I've ever had. The stage was set for a great sequel. Clarice Starling hunting Hannibal Lector, a monsterous villian. Maybe assisted by Will Graham or Jack Crawford. . . Nope. . didnt happen. . Instead we get a cast of characters that are more evil and sadistic than Lector, and what's worse is, they are unlikable and unsympathetic. The book is gross, and Harris seems determined to shock the reader with his prose. Not because it fit into the sotryline, but because he wanted a reaction from the reader. Additionally, if anyone has any other reaction than total disbelief at the ending, they should have their head examined.. like Paul Krendler.
Rating:
Summary: Hannibal- entertaining but not believable
Review: To follow Silence of the Lambs is a literary task that few if any writers would want to tackle, and under the circumstances Harris produced a worthy sequel. If Harris had written a more believable ending, the book would have been deemed boring or predictable. I do think Harris lost touch with the character of Starling but his portrayal of Dr. Lecter was immaculate. In particular the middle section of the book presents the chilling and evil genius of Lecter coupled with a medieval twist that left me begging but unable to put the book down. The conclusion was absolutely ridiculous and never would have happened, but I didn't mind because the book was such a joy to read. I think the story of Dr. Lecter is over. To ask Harris to write another book as original and excellent as Silence of the Lambs both underestimates the brilliance of the book and demands too much from a single a author. Hannibal shines in literary quality but lacks plot development. For this reason it makes a better book than movie. I hope Harris doesn't further diffuse the character of Dr. Lecter with any more love stories, and either writes a another book along the lines of Red Dragon or creates an enirely new character.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I am so disappointed by the direction that this story went. The book disgusted me and showed very little of the skill and craftmenship that Harris had in the past 2 Lecter novels. I hope that Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins stay miles away from this one. This book is not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Red Dragon or Silence of the Lambs.
Rating:
Summary: A great disappointment!
Review: What a bummer!! I awaited this book for ten years. Red Dragon is by far Harris' best book but Silence was good too. That's why this book was such a disappointment. If Harris had become a hack, putting out a book a year, I could understand the loss of quality. But it took him ten years to write this. I found the characters and the plot unbelieveable. But the worst offense was the complete negation of Clarice Starling's character that had been so carefully crafted by Harris. The ending was about as realistic as Hannibal being awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine.
Rating:
Summary: Has educational value
Review: Harris does great research before facing a blank monitor and keyboard. Ian Fleming of 007 fame also included much bon vivant research and shared it with the reader. Harris tops this with the ever refreshing eclecticism of Dr. Lecter. The plot is as fast moving as Fleming's adventures, but Harris' writing skills reflect those of Thomas Wolfe, i.e. great turn of phases, subtle humor and awesome descriptive ability. In addition, his character creations are identifiable and one can really get to hate/love the identities. One lament: why can't video/movie industry mirror a fraction of Harris' scripting....I actually walked out of the new "Star Wars" due to terminal boredom with the script. If it takes Harris 12 years for another book, I don't mind waiting for the quality he offers.
Rating:
Summary: I have a new favorite book!!!!!
Review: I am so glad we finally get to see what made Hannibal the way he is! Yes, I respected him in Silence and I still do. Of course he is an animal and I wouldn't want to see him free in my world but I have always wanted to look inside his head and see what makes him tick. As for the ending, I believe it... We all know Clarice had some major problems with her childhood which seemed to interfere with her adult life in a huge way. Hannibal the father figure? I LOVE IT! Remember, Hannibal had the brilliance to talk people into killing themselves... I listened to the unabridged audio and it was wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: Great followup to SOTL...
Review: Following the theme that evil corrupts innocence, and that the ultimate triumph of evil is the total corruption of good, Harris has penned a masterful work. In Hannibal, Lecter continues the subornation of Starling that he began in SOTL, with foreseeable results. Many who don't care for the ending of this book overlook both Graham's fate in RD and the weakness of character Starling occasionally showed in SOTL which Lecter takes full advantage of in this book. In choosing to make his characters three dimensional, Harris manages to avoid leaving us with yet another heroine versus villian story where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. Instead, we have a much more visceral tale, in which we, as well as Starling, have the opportunity to be seduced by the glamour of evil. The only weakness of this book was finding a psychobabble explanation of Lecter's behavior, an explanation that Lecter himself would probably deride. In the world of Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal, it is much for effective for Lecter to be evil for evil's sake. Dark, dismal, and shocking, Hannibal is a fitting end to the story of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter, and shouldn't be missed.
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