Rating: 
Summary: Thomas Harris and Stephen King both have my sympathy
Review: I am not surprised to find that Stephen King wrote a favorable review of HANNIBAL. It is likely that King, more than any other living writer, understands the position Thomas Harris found himself in after SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. When you have written a book (or in King's case, more than one book) which has become a cultural icon, how do you follow it up? What do you offer as an encore? How do you avoid the Son of Tarzan, Daughter of Frankenstein plight? Fans who adored your previous effort will resist any attempt to mess with "their" characters. Both Harris and King chose to take the same approach. Over the top. Tongue in cheek. Throw the kitchen sink at the adoring masses and then giggle at their outrage. I gave Stephen King up over a decade ago because I got tired of arrogant self-indulgence drawn out over 700 pages. I found myself praying for an editor with the nerve to really edit the icon down to a tight 350 pages. And found myself irritated as well because, when King writes from the heart, no one does it better. In HANNIBAL, Harris even gives a clue as to what is going on when he writes about the floral arrangements. Too much becomes not enough. The only way to improve upon "too much" is to add more. That is precisely what he has done here. He created a villain so hideous that Hannibal pales in comparison. Harris slyly reverses the good and evil roles until readers find themselves uncomfortable and itchy. And -- like King -- when he is good, Harris is very, very good. Tom, why not try writing under another name? Get away from being "Thomas Harris" and just concentrate on being a good writer. Because you are one when you are not acting out. Thanks for the passages that I read and then re-read with delight. Thanks for describing the Florence that I love. Thanks for making me twitchy and uneasy. Thanks for a rich chocolate dessert with so much gooey icing that my teeth hurt afterward and I found myself wishing the baker had cut down on the sugar content. Have a good decade.
Rating: 
Summary: so much waiting for what?
Review: The thrill of the anticipation did not make up for lost time. this is the worst Hannibal series I have ever read. The characters are not themselves. It reads like the sunday paper. what a disappointment!
Rating: 
Summary: An immersive masterpiece which will captivate almost anyone
Review: Hannibal. Dr. Lecter. Monster. It does not matter how this man is refered to, he is simply astonishing. Dr Hannibal Lecter is, in my mind, one of the mos profound and superbly charaters ever to appear on paper. His mind will amaze you, his acts will astonish you. For those of you who felt they they could not get enough of this spine chilling man in RED DRAGON and SOTL, read this and as Hanniabal says " keep an open mind"!
Rating: 
Summary: HANNIBAL is the darkest romance of them all.
Review: After two consecutive tales of FBI operatives gingerly working their way through the cryptic and self-serving oracles of Hannibal Lecter as part of the pursuit of outrageously cunning and savage serial killers, the obvious follow-up for Thomas Harris would have been more of the same. Thankfully, he opted for a different approach. HANNIBAL is, as many fans anticipated (and some feared), a dark romance. It is by no means tidy and it sacrifices the artificial "beat-the-clock" tension of the previous two installments in an attempt to explore the intersection between the operatic reality of Lecter and the mundane, "glass-ceilinged" existence of Clarice Starling. The book is not the masterpiece of psychology and structure that RED DRAGON is, but it is at least the equal of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Both SILENCE and HANNIBAL are weighed down at times with characters who verge on offensive stereotype and both struggle to find a narrative throughline, creating cul-de-sacs of plot and hopscotching, sometimes absurdly, about the map. Be that as it may, no other writer of thrillers manifests the craftsmanship and integrity of vision of Harris. He brings verisimilitude to the most Baroque situations. He lends unforced likeability--or at least a doorway to empathy--to the most unpalatable characters. The ending of HANNIBAL is surprising, dreamlike and disturbing, in a way most authors would never even attempt to bring off, let alone achieve a margin of success with.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely Different!
Review: I too must admit a bit of disappointment in a book I have anticipated for years. It was enjoyable enough reading, but deviated so far from the flow of the original stories, I found my interest waning as the story unfolded. The ending was just too much to swallow (no pun intended!)
Rating:
Summary: Harris cannot be happy with this....book.
Review: I work for a major studio and reading this book was like reading one of the many BAD scripts we receive daily! It seemed Harris was writing a movie script instead of a novel. He made some things very sick and unnecessary. What did he do, make a bet with someone (for a dollar) that he could write the sickest and most unrealistic screenplay ever? If this were to become a movie, it should be direct-to-video with all "B" actors. I disliked the way Harris overemphasized references to Silence. To Mr. Harris, disappoint your fans, disappoint yourself.
Rating:
Summary: This can't be the hack that wrote Silence & Red Dragon.
Review: There are sentence fragments in this book! Harris must have had an agreement with the publisher not to edit his book. He must've had an agreement not to self-edit his book. The book is absolutely over the top in gore and credibility. We waited 11 years for this?
Rating:
Summary: Harris Subverts Expectations, Triumphs
Review: I read the latest installment in Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter saga in one 6-hour gulp and was both impressed and astonished. No, its suspense is not what one expects from "Silence Of The Lambs" but it's subtler and better. I've already found myself rereading sections of the book over again, which I can't say I did with "Lambs". Harris was clearly trying not to repeat himself, to deliver a book worthy of the characters and not a Hollywood rehash. I suspect Harris may have indeed intentionally written a novel that wouldn't work as a film (what happens to the novel's only movie director may be proof enough of his jaundiced view of the film industry), and the book is the better for it. The "Florence" section is nearly a novel within the novel, wonderfully atmospheric and spellbinding. The novel's structure leaves plenty of room for suspense, though, and one turns the pages as compulsively as one would any Harris book. I think some of the frustration readers are expressing has to do with the fact that Clarice and Dr. Lecter don't interact until the last pages of the novel. On the other hand, the entire book is set up to draw them together and the book's real conclusion (every bit as startling as the last moments of "Red Dragon") is as unsettling as anything he's ever penned. Harris is having a little bit of fun at the expense of readers who think they know where the story should go, perhaps, but it's no less believable for that. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Rating:
Summary: Shame on you, Thomas Harris
Review: You took a complex and courageous female protagonist and reduced her to the kind of vacuous heroine normally found in supermarket romance novels. This was still a great read, and I appreciate the attempt to explore the dynamics of the intimacy between Lecter and Starling, but the outcome was very disappointing. Maybe you were shooting for "Heart of Darkness" but this ending is more like depraved Danielle Steele. I, too, have been a fan of yours for over 20 years, and pre-ordered this book. I will not make the same mistake on your next one.
Rating:
Summary: Not sure what to think
Review: Interesting to read the reviews because it gives me a new take on the book. Initially, I was excited and thought the beginning was funny and a bit gross - just what I wanted. Then the boring Italy component, chase scenes, etc were tedious. The ending was stupid. Then I read the other reader reviews and think, "well, maybe they have something." I'll have to ponder it. You might be disappointed with this book if you're looking for a neat, clean horror story, but open your mind (so to speak) and see what bigger themes might be there. Interesting.
| 
