Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable read - but very 'unappetizing'
Review: If it took the author over 10 years to come up with this installment, how many other versions must he have trashed in order to settle on this one? Maybe Mr. Harris should rummage his trash and see if a better Hannibal exists and call it Hannibal II. The bad guys are painted with extremely broad strokes, Starling dissapoints big time, and old Hannibal is somebody you would like to have as a best friend, except for his nasty habits. BUT... a page turner none-the-less Read it for yourself and decide.
Rating: 
Summary: "Hannibal" - Long wait for nothing
Review: I'll be brief. This novel serves two purposes. It shows off Harris' extensive knowledge, and it will make him a large sum of money. Apart from these, the book is overwhelmingly disappointing. Clarice would never behave in the ways Harris has her behave. The characters do not ring true, and at times the plot sequences themselves are murky and almost impossible to follow. Stay with the first three Harris novels. This one's a failure.
Rating:
Summary: Reader Beware -- some images are best never imagined
Review: I was intrigued by "Silence of the Lambs" because of the detective work, tension, novelty and such. I was pleased to see "Hannibal" come along, thinking "more fascinating, rich character/plot development." I picked it up in Book on Tape form. The reader was initally disappointing but soon settled in with richly satisfying impressions of Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins (perfect Lecter) and the new character Nason. The book is richly developed, I think. For a while this kept me interested, intrigued, anticipating the plot turns. BUT, the book delves into some truly gruesome depths that I really did not need to plumb. I am not that squeamish and am more curious and tough-minded than many, perhaps. But some of the images developed in the book, I never needed to see. I can well imagine some readers, should they persist in turning the pages, would certainly grow nauseous and not a few may throw up! By way of analogy, using erotic media, I feel there is a not-so-fine line between titillation and torture. A line beyond which brutal sadism dwells. I feel Thomas in "Hannibal" has crossed well beyond such a line. Many may argue he did so in "Lambs", and maybe so. But in "Hannibal", I think we get images that are the stuff of nightmare and which many readers, such as myself, may never be able to forget, regretfully.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing!
Review: It's hard to say what went wrong with this novel. The raw materials for a great sequal to 'The Silence of the Lambs' are all there. Our favorite characters are back; perhaps not in the situations we imagined them, but true to their natures nonetheless. The initial situations are believable, and consistent with the world Harris created in his previous novels. As the novel progresses, however, it spirals farther and farther away from believability. I suppose that's my complaint. What made 'Red Dragon' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' so engrossing and terrifying was plausibility. We all hope that we don't know anyone like the Tooth Fairy or Buffalo Bill, but we know that we might. 'Hannibal', on the other hand, reads more like a grotesque James Bond novel than anything else. The villain is a physically repulsive man of limitless wealth and influence, surrounded by henchmen who are drawn in caricature. The action in the last third of the book grows increasingly fantastic, to the point that I expected to find, in the last chapter, that the book was all a fevered dream of Agent Starling's. The ending was not at all what I wished for in this novel. Still, an unexpected conclusion can be effective if it is consistent with what we know of the principal characters and the world they inhabit. I simply could not believe that the resolution of the story in 'Hannibal' could be drawn from the actions of the main characters. It seemed driven by outside forces (i.e. Harris' imagination) with no regard for the net result. One more annoyance. There is a scene in the novel which places Hannibal Lecter in the middle seat in the coach section of a trans-Atlantic flight, next to an annoying small boy. This had great potential to be gruesomely funny. Instead, not only did the scene come to an unsatisfying close, but it served no purpose in furthering the plot. I felt cheated, and I suppose that is as good a characterization of my feelings toward the book as a whole as any.
Rating:
Summary: Good book that would be a terrible movie
Review: For starters, do not read this book with the preconcieved notion that it will be the equivalent of "Silence of the Lambs." It is an interesting book and not a slow read, but does have parts where the writer drifts away from the true story of the book. I would put a slight recommendation on the book. The ending was terrible and if screenwriters decide to adapt this to the big screen there will have to be considerable work done to make it a decent movie. By the way, the ending sucks!
Rating:
Summary: One of the most awaited sequels sinks
Review: For years many readers have awaited this book and most of us rushed out to purchase it the second it hit the bookshelves and most of those readers have been somewhat disenchanted. While the plot still holds some twists and turns it could not stand up to Harris' two previous Hannibal books. It seemed as though Harris did not really know what to do with Lecter this time around. The other two books were intricately woven stories this book seemed to be more of a psychological profile of Hannibal - Starling is not really a central character and Mason Verger who was touted to be even more frightening than Lecter was at total disappointment. Harris seems to confuse thriller with sheer violence in Hannibal. Readers do not get that intense, edge of your seat, check to make sure the doors are all locked fear - instead they find a bland story line with more grotesque than gory. It also seemed as tho Harris rushed the ending and manipulated the characters to do something that was way out of character for them (especially Startling). While I still found this book to be enjoyable I was not quite sure if the real disappointment was from the anticipation that the long lag between books created or because the book seemed so unimaginative in comparison with Harris' other Hannibal works. Read this book but don't go in with expectations based on Harris' two previous Hannibal works - you will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly excellent read, but ending kills it
Review: "Hannibal" is the fourth novel (third featuring Hannibal Lecter) from Thomas Harris, who takes his time writing (he's written four novels since 1975, with eleven years passing since "Silence of the Lambs" was published). I didn't read "Silience" until last year, but I can imagine the frustration over having to wait 11 years to find out what happens. It opens on a positive note with a shootout practically written for the screen, and stays rather steady from there with the pleasant exception of a few surprisingly gory parts (even for Harris) which are excellently told with a deadpan demeanor. A few of the descriptions of Florence are so unnecessarily extensive that they make one think that Harris is simply showing off how much he knows about the city. The novel picks up after it leaves Florence and hurries toward a repulsively good climax. As others have said, the ending of the book is ridiculous, poorly thought out, and hugely disappointing. It leaves room for yet another sequel (expected in about 20 years), and demonstrates again Harris' annoying lack of feeling for any of his characters. The ending is so awful, it makes the otherwise above-average book worth reading only for closure.
Rating:
Summary: Corny ending unbelievable!
Review: I saw "Silence of the Lambs", then read the book. I was looking forward to the return of Hannibal the Cannibal. However, the ending to Harris's novel 'Hannibal' is so utterly and completely moronic that it ruined the entire reading experience. I don't believe for a moment that the Starling character would act in the way she did in the last part of the novel. Mason Verger and his sister Margot were interesting and creepy, but the entire 'A Long Spoon' section is too stupid to believe. Shame on you Thomas Harris!
Rating:
Summary: spell check
Review: I wish I would have read some of the other reviews before my husband bought this for me for Christmas. I have not gotten past page 100 yet, but it doesn't sound like things get better. My problem with the book quite simply is the spelling and sentence errors. Didn't anyone run Spell-Check or edit this book. What an embarrassment to the publisher. I haven't even had time to critique the plot in my head, I am trying to get past the spelling errors.
Rating:
Summary: Hannibal-Smannibal!
Review: I was so anxious to read this book. Being a fan of Thomas Harris' other books, I bought this one probably before the ink was dry! What a disappointment! It started out fine, but everything you loved about these characters from the other novel was destroyed. He didn't stay true to any of the characters and I can only say that I hope they freely change the movie (if they make one).
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