Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: Hannibal is a major disappointment. I should have known betterthan to buy and read it especially after perusing the plotline revelations online, but when I read Silence of the Lambs curiosity got the better of me so I went into Hannibal with low expectations and it was even worse than what I had expected. It's unworthy as a novel let alone a sequel to a brilliant book and movie. I pray this never gets turned into a screenplay with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins signing on. Thomas Harris can surely do better than this it's just a shame that this is how it all turned out.

Rating:
Summary: Ridiculous. Poor dumb ole Starling never sees it coming.
Review: Harris has taken a strong fictional women's character and reduced her to mush. In Silence of the Lambs, Starling was a fighter, a role model. She took her licks but came out alright. In this book she is a helpless little victim who completely sells out. The plot is absurd. The ending is a disaester. Someone needed to throw a book together quickly, and get PAID...

Rating:
Summary: The best murder and mayhem book I have ever read.
Review: Because of this book I have fallen in love with Hannibal Lecter. His character is so brilliant. His strength and power makes him more than just a mindless killer. This book never left my side and is a really quick read. I recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and a lot of creepy stuff. This book is a must read and if this book is not on your list you better put it on there.

Rating:
Summary: 13-year-old boys will love it!
Review: Hey Thomas--stop trying to impress us with your arrested-adolescent gross-outs and the dull, half-baked psychoanalysis of your protaganists.

If you think knowing what pate de foie gras is makes you a fascinating sophisticate, and that pointless amorality is 'deep', you'll be duly impressed by Hannibal.

This book utterly fails both as thriller and as murder-mystery. The development of Hannibal and Starling is particularly lame. When characters in genre fiction stop being even remotely believable, there's no point in continuing.

Harris phoned this one in--straight to the producers. Look for a film version ASAP, because Hollywood dictated this sorry story.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating beyond compare;challenging beyond reproach.
Review: "Hannibal" was an experience I found to be everybit as delightful as was it revolting.Granted, there were plot continuity gaps and flagging pacing throughout, however there imperfections served to compell me all the more.

The novel's ending seems to have become a consistant source of literary debate, and divided down the center between the camps of those whom found it unutterably mind blowing (as did I), and others whom, from my perspective, appear as if they were perhaps expecting something from a Steven King best seller.

I give this end of a fine trilogy my highest esteem!

Rating:
Summary: NOT UP TO HIS EARLIER WORKS
Review: Hannibal was NOT up to par with Harris's other terrific books. It took me 3 painful months to finish it. If you have not read Red Dragon--it is one of the most powerful psychological profiles of a serial killer. Don't bother with Hannibal.

Rating:
Summary: Another hit for Thomas Harris!
Review: For readers seeking a formulaic sequel to SILENCE... this tome might disapoint, but for those who take this effort on it's own merits, HANNIBAL is an extremely well written ride with a shocker of an ending. I found the introduction of characters even more disturbing than Dr. Lecter a provocative move, and think the background on Lecter is a fascinating piece of characterization. Mr. Harris also continues to show strong female relationships in Clarice and Ardelia, and Margot is as formidable a presence as any male. Kudos to Mr. Harris for not bending to public expectation for the sake of popularity, and for producing a truly mind shaking work of fiction. What will he do for an encore?

Rating:
Summary: In a word? Stupid.
Review: What a shame that Harris wasted the terrific characters he introduced in Silence (and Dragon) and dragged us through what I'd call one man's love affair with Italy. Sadly enough, the only time I detected some excitement in Harris' writing was when he described the buildings and streets of Florence, Italy. Otherwise he threw Clarice Starling and Hannibal to the pigs (literally). By the time the finale rolled around, the only thing I was interested in finding out was what wine the doctor was serving with dinner! (Note to author: You and Patricia Cornwell need to get together some time and talk about Italy. She can wax ecstatic over its cuisine and you can ramble on about its architecture and history. That way you can get it out of your system and your readers won't have to suffer through pages of the stuff waiting to find out what became of the main characters.)

Rating:
Summary: suspenseful, and extemely entertaining.
Review: Thomas Harris has once again brought the intriguing character of Dr. Hannible Lecter back into our lives. Throughout his books the reader wonders "Why would someone do what he does? What happened that made him the monster that he is?" Our questions are finally answered, and in a way that almost leaves us feeling sorry for him. The book had me turning page after page; Never expecting the story that unfolded with each paragraph. This book is a great read for people who use their imagination to see what happens as they read. I can't wait for them movie to come out. I want to see if the director and actors will act it out as I saw it at 2:30 A.M.

Rating:
Summary: It should end with Part III.
Review: I am a scientist so usually I only read non-fiction books. Intrigued by the character Dr. Lecter and interested to know Clarice Starling's life, I have been eagerly waiting for their return. Thomas Harris' Hannibal is the first novel I read from cover to cover in years. I was not disappointed. While reading it, I clearly felt that I was listening to one of the greatest story tellers of our time. With senses of history and culture, the writer connects people from the Renaissance to the Internet age, from Dante's Inferno to Washington's Presidential Impeachment. The readers' intelligence is constantly challenged by different but converging threads and numerous surprises. The development of characters and events is extremely suspenseful and realistic. If you liked Count of Mt. Christ you will love this one.

I do however have some reservations with the pervasive descriptions of cannibalism and Part IV of the book. I found both, and I think many would agree with me, not credible and a stretch of the characters, especially Dr. Lecter and Clarice Starling. These descriptions are not based on experience or knowledge. Part IV is really unnecessary. The book should have ended with Part III, and whatever happens next will be the subject of a future installment. Now the author seems to try to rush the exit and the reality and suspense completely disappeared. I feel that I don't want to know anything about Dr. Lecter and Clarice Starling anymore. They have stopped intriguing me.