Rating: 
Summary: Will the Real Hannibal Lecter Please Stand Up?!
Review: I have never been so disappointed by a book in all my life. Obviously Thomas Harris has been wasting the last eleven years! This book doesn't even belong in the same category with Red Dragon or Silence. Hannibal is pure unadulterated crap written (very poorly) to line Thomas Harris' pockets by perpetuating a fraud on his fans. It reads as though Harris put it down with 100 pages left to go and some poor wannabe author picked up and finished the tale without reading the preceding pages. Don't waste your money or your time, I felt angry and betrayed that I'd wasted mine on this poor excuse for a novel!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Babies...
Review: My heart goes out to all those who found to their disappointment that Thomas Harris has a mind of his own, and decided to write the book that HE wanted to write, rather than pandering to the wants of his fans. Folks. Please remember. This is the man who wrote Red Dragon, and The Silence Of The Lambs. Few authors living have his grasp of the thriller genre, can create fascinating villains and inventive situations as intelligently as he can. Based on past evidence, Harris knows exactly what he is doing. If this book is unusual, it follows that it is unusual for a reason. Harris must have known that this novel would excite much controversy, and would not necessarily be popular with the horror fan whose idea of literature is Dean Koontz or John Saul. So we have to ask ourselves WHY? Why has Thomas Harris written this book, and what might he be trying to tell us? Remember, people were similarly upset by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, and later by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Both films were critically maligned upon their initial release, only to be hailed as classics long after better-received, more deliberately popular works were forgotten. I found the book to be gripping, disturbing, rather nauseating, and often grimly funny. I found the ending entirely appropriate, indeed the only possible ending for these characters. So they live happily ever after. Did you expect something different? If the American public insists upon romanticizing homicidal maniacs, we shouldn't blame Thomas Harris for rubbing our faces in it.
Rating:
Summary: Pornographic trash
Review: I have no idea what the professional reviewers above are talking about. Certainly they are not refering to Hannibal. This book begins well, then degenerates into the most pornographic (and I do mean graphic) trash I have ever had the misfortune to read. I also get the impression that Harris did not want to write this novel. The writing is uninspired, the conclusion repulsive. The characters' actions are nonsensical. I am no prude. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two novels, but this I have removed from my home. It is just wretched.
Rating:
Summary: Delicious
Review: This book is an easy read, and compelling throughout. The fast pace was pleasing to my literary appetite, and I quickly devoured the book. Even so, it was more like a feast than fast food. Come back Hannibal, I want more.
Rating:
Summary: A MONSTER DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: Waiting 11 years for a sequel to one of my favorite books was hard enough... when the sequel is poor it's like a slap in the face. HANNIBAL is a bad book. I can't think of a single complimentary thing to say about this novel... isn't Thomas Harris a THRILLER WRITER?This should have been the greatest book of the decade, instead it was a bitter pill to swallow. I wasn't asking for the world, just a good, satisfying read. I can't even believe it's the same author...
Rating: 
Summary: Real crime was great, but horror is just ... horrible
Review: How one Earth could Mr Harris hope to follow his two earlier successes? The serial killer theme, which he reached ahead of every one else, was a popular literary gold mine. Such new material does not come along every day, or even every decade. So Harris stuck to his guns and, after years of pacing up and down, churned out more of the same - except that it wasn't the same. RED DRAGON and SILENCE were based on real cases. That was what made them so startling. And it excused the horror, because it we knew these things had really happened. In this book Harris spirals off into pure horror fantasy. No real cases this time, just the author's imaginings pushed to the limit of nastiness. The result is a pale shadow of his earlier work: indulgent, lurid, exploitative. Well, I guess that was a hell of a lot easier than coming up with new, well-researched, factually-based material.
Rating:
Summary: VERY SHAG-ILICIOUS!!!!!
Review: I was amazed by all the negative reviews from readers. Simply put -- they don't get it or else wanted to settle for the gory plane of the the previous two novels. This sequel is brilliant. I was mesmerized, fascinated. I simply could not put this book down.
Rating:
Summary: A very long epilogue...
Review: It amazes me...I have never read a book as good as Red Dragon. Silence was very good, but it was no Red Dragon. This book does not even deserve to sit on the same bookshelf as Red Dragon. While I read what seemed to me to be one long contrived epilogue to Silence, I could not help but wonder why this book was written. Certainly "series" books can be published and maintain a certain quality (just look at James Patterson's Alex Cross books), but this book continued the series unnecessarily. It would have been better had Starling not even been in it, much the way Graham was not in Silence. This book could have been a new story, with Lechter in the background, again, as he was in Silence. I suspect Harris was pressured to write an actual "sequel" instead of a new story with new characters. I believe in Harris, I know his ability, it just seems as if he bent to the Hollywood peer pressure to continue the Lechter/Starling saga. What is funny is that I believe this book is unfilmable, as it would lose whatever inner quality it has by placing a mostly non-action orientated story onto the screen. As for the ending...It seemed to stark, out of nowhere, therefore making it unbelievable. I applaud the effort to bring things together in an unexpected way, but it just doesn't satisfy. Go read Red Dragon again, I know I plan on it!!!
Rating:
Summary: With more about Hannibal & Clarice, it's another great novel
Review: Books like this one aren't published every day, and this book was certainly worth the wait. Although some parts of the plot sound a bit implausible at first, Harris pulls off what many could not, and makes these parts believable and entertaining at once. The book provides a terrific follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs, and while it can be read without having read Red Dragon or The Silence of the Lambs, I would recommend reading the previous books first, even if you have seen the movies based upon them. As the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling deepens, and as we learn more aobut them, the book becomes increasingly hard to put down before reading it all. Although it is not for those with a weak stomach, the action is engaging. While the book isn't as frightening as The Silence of the Lambs, I feel that it is much better than Red Dragon, and is a thoroughly enjoyable read that has left me hoping that Thomas Harris will be releasing another book in the Hannibal Lecter series very soon.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Awful!
Review: I was really looking forward to this sequel; I enjoyed the book and movie of "Silence of the Lambs". While this book was well written, well researched, I feel Mr. Harris really went over the edge. I felt physically sick when I was done with the book. I love murder mysteries; Robert Patterson, Tami Hoag, etc., so I am not a prude on the issues of violence or sex. I cannot imagine this book becoming a movie. Please do yourself a favor and do not buy this book. If you must read it, check it out from the library and when you return it, wash your hands.
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