Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe the hype,this book is awful.
Review: It took me three monthes to finally finish this book.I couldn't bare to pick it up after I had passed the half way mark.It had little suspense,the characters had little or no substance and the story dragged on like a root canal.Harris spent so much time building up to what was supposed to be an epic feast that he left me hungrier than the wild pigs he spent too much time describing.I feel sorry for all the people who have waited years for this book,they were robbed.I usually don't feel so angry after reading a bad book,but all I see is rave reviews for a book that is not deserving of them.The author spends a great deal of time speaking of Lector's "memory palace",I'm going to wipe it from mine.If Jodie Foster is smart she'll avoid signing up for the film.
Rating: 
Summary: A stop and go book...
Review: I started off really enjoying the book and couldn't put it down. Then around the middle of the book, the part set in Italy, I stopped for about 2 months. I felt that he was trying to impress me with his description of Italy and it's history rather than tell the story. When I finally started again, I moved through it pretty quickly, partially to finish. I found some of the characters, plot and outcome very unbeliveable. Not trying to give it away, I just found it inplausible. I must admit that I did enjoy some insight into Dr. Lector's mind and his past. This understanding, however, did not clear my confusion of certain things and event which might have resulted from unbelievability. Since Since I've heard the first two books are so good, I don't think that "Hannibal" will put me off from reading them. I'm not even sure that I'd see the movie- unless Hollywood drastically changes it.
Rating:
Summary: It stinks far worse than any pig ever did
Review: As a big fan of Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, I had eagerly awaited Harris' next voyage into the deliciously (pardon the pun) evil mind of Hannibal the Cannibal. Perhaps I should have realized how bitterly disappointed I would be based on how long it took me to finish the book. While I couldn't put down Silence of the Lambs and devoured it (sorry again) in a few short days, Hannibal took me three months. What a staggering waste of time: this book was so bad it was offensive. First, Harris launches into self-serving, artsy-fartsy descriptions of Italian culture that sound about as authentic as aspartame. Then, stealing a page from an X-files script, he creates villains so impossibly macabre they might as well have arrived during an alien visitation. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Harris sells out Starling. She goes from being a fiercely independent, driven, talented, bright career woman to arm candy for a brain-eating serial killer. Female readers beware: there may be numerous olfactory references in this book, but the stench of sexism overpowers them all at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I would have rated this book two stars, except for the fact that it did keep my interest throughout. However, the ending is thoroughly implausible and far-fetched. A book like this should have ended with one gasping for breath, but this one simply trailed away. Another matter I thought disturbing was that Clarice repeatedly turned in information to the FBI, never suspecting that it was being used improperly. It seemed to me that she was too brilliant an agent for that to happen. This book doesn't quite "make it", and that is a huge disappointment. I hope that Jodie Foster doesn't agree to star in this one, and that Anthony Hopkins changes his mind about appearing in it. That is, unless the screenwriters can rewrite the ending. Not neccessarily with a happy resolution, but a more realistic one.
Rating: 
Summary: Best thing I have read in a long time
Review: This book was so intense, I loved it from beginning to end. I wish I would have read the first two, before seeing the movie. I can't wait for the movie to come out for this one, cause I loved the ending
Rating:
Summary: A sequel so bad it was laughable
Review: Of all the sequels I have ever read, this one was by far the worst. Characters so one-dimensional I find my dental floss to be more substantial, a plot and writing style so untrue to the original "Silence of the Lambs" I never once felt like I was reading about the same characters or even a book by the same author, I couldn't help but wonder if Harris had just been out to make a buck on this one.Hannibal Lecter, who is a fine, fascinating support character, isn't nearly so intriguing when you get too close to him. Clarice Starling goes from being a smart, talented, admirable woman, able to compete well in what was traditionally a man's world and yet retain her femininity to a petted lap dog to a madman. The FBI goes from being a respected organization populated with a few bad eggs but mostly with dedicated people intent on their craft to a front organization for crooked politics. One good thing: "Hannibal" was so removed from the quality of "The Silence of the Lambs" that my view of the latter was not tainted. I truly felt as though I was reading a weak parody by a different author; I really did get a lot of laughs out of it, too. Sequels are often disappointing things, and I've found that a good way to tell just how bad it's going to be is by marking the time that has passed between the original and the next chapter (just look at "Star Wars"). Before I even picked up "Hannibal," I wondered why it took a writer twelve years before he had anything more to say about the characters that populated his first superb book. The answer became clear as I was reading: he really *didn't* have anything to say; he forced it. I like and admire Jodi Foster, and I think Anthony Hopkins is one of the best actors around. After his disappointing "Instinct" this past summer, the actor announced that he was going to be much more careful in accepting scripts in the future. I hope he keeps to that promise and give's "Hannibal" a thumbs-down when it finally appears on his desk.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit fartched at times but now Hannibal is my hero!
Review: I stayed up last night until 2:30am to finish the last 200 pages-that should tell you something! Although some of this book is hard to believe and at times hard to follow, Hannibal Lecter is one of the great fiends of all time. We root for him from the begining and the (predictable) love story is the only way for the trilogy to wrap up. I must say I can't wait for the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Harris should have waited a little longer and done it right
Review: As a fan of both Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, I must say I was disappointed by Hannibal. It was an interesting, compelling read that, had I not already developed a relationship with the characters, would have stood well on its own. Unfortunately, Harris took several plot paths that drove me crazy. Much like many prison films from the '70s attempted to make the viewer feel compassion for murderers and rapists by showing these characters in situations where they are mistreated by the guards, (They're murderers for goodness sake! big deal if the guards don't let them watch HBO!!!!) Lecter is being persued by individuals who are arguably as dispicable as himself, causing the reader to feel empathy for the monster who deserves none. Harris also used the tact that I have found to be a favorite of John Grisham. If enough money is involved, even the most rightous person would murder. I don't buy it. I HATE what he did to Starling. He took a strong willed, heroine and reduced her to a pathetic Patty Hearst character who develops a relationship with the devil simply because he "understands" her. The book was not terrible by any means. It was an entertaining page turner that I could hardly put down....Until the final chapter where I was tempted to throw it!
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Disturbing Book!
Review: I don't understand all the one star reviews of this book. Even if one dislikes the plot, a one star rating is ludicrous -- Thomas Harris is a poet, a deranged poet, but a poet nevertheless. For me, this is the Book of the Year.
Rating:
Summary: What is That Smell?
Review: This is a monstrous and disturbing book. Monstrous poorly written and disturbingly shoddy workmanship. I was quite horrified. Briefly, I entertained the possibility that my reaction was one intended by the author. After all, he succeeded in scaring me. Alas, I've weighed the evidence and am forced to conclude that he scared me entirely by accident. All my feelings of horror arose from the cheap ploys, the naked lunges to twang the reader's heartstrings, the rampant inconsistencies and, most telling, the author's unchecked self indulgence. So much is wrong with it that I used up all my energy on preliminaries and found myself spent long before I ever arrived at the ending. I would have been even more horrified had I spent money on this thing, thus inadvertently encouraging further work along the same lines. I can accept that Harris is laughing all the way to the bank. I bear in mind that nothing can rationalize and excuse such rotten work like heaps of money. He has had a great deal of credibility stored up with his wide readership. Now, he's traded it all for a large cash infusion - probably superfluous after his past success. It seems like the story behind the book is as banal as the story in the book. It's just boring that it would all boil down to appetite and greed in both tales. One thing makes me laugh. I can't believe what bad taste Hannibal has! I can't believe what bad taste Harris has! Too funny. It's almost as if he planned... no. Couldn't be.
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