Rating: 
Summary: GREAT, I'm surprised at the negative reviews
Review: Admittedly, I listened to the tape, which was VERY well done. I didn't notice the terrible writing everyone is complaining about. I didn't want to get out of my car and turn off the tape, which is always a sign of an engrossing story.I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and found the actions of the characters totally believable.
Rating: 
Summary: A great sequel filled with a shocking ending.
Review: Hannibal; was a great reading experience. Harris has made a mind bending sequal to "silence of the lambs". It was a page turner from page one with an ending that will shock all who reads.
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the puzzles?
Review: It took me a while to decide the reasons why this book was disapointing, aside from the uneven, cluttered plot which smacked more of sequelitis, what was missing was the puzzles. Silence of the Lambs was filled with little brain teasing puzzles frequently of the excessively macabre fashion. This time out, there's lots of talk about Classical literature, art & gourmet cooking, but no puzzles. The result feels like when I read Michael Crichton's Lost World; A forced sequel rather than one that improves on the original.
Rating:
Summary: So far... SUPER!!!
Review: I don't know about everyone else (apparently we have some heavy critics around here) but I find this book to be a serious work of art! Literature has finally found a thriller it can respect. At least, so I imagine. I love the book. I hope for a fourth!!!
Rating:
Summary: A departure from the previous, but very good.
Review: Fascinating. The reviews of this book seem to be very binary. Either the reader found it excellent, or the reader disliked it passionately. I wonder how many criticize it from a standpoint of technical quality, and how many angrily condemn it for its betrayal of your expectations? This book is cruel and unpleasant, without regard for the reader's feelings. There is little of the earlier novels in this volume, rather it is an exploration of the essential ugliness of society and the human spirit. You may not like this sort of thing. I do. It's not a perfect novel, but it is well written with but a few flaws, and I admire Harris's audacity in turning everything on its head without regard for any feelings we may have had for his characters. Certainly, I'm not a literary authority, and there is always room for a wide spectrum of opinion - I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who genuinely thought the book was stupid or boring, and I respect that opinion. But I wonder; How many of you hated it because you went out, bought it, brought into your home with a warm place prepared for it, were kind to it, and it bit your hand off regardless?
Rating:
Summary: less than inspiring
Review: The principal attraction of Lambs was the contrast between the thrill of relevation and the threat of violence. I kept reading in hope to discover the underlying tension from this dichtomy but alas there was no real relevation and only violence itself not the threat of it which is by far more interesting. A disppointment.
Rating:
Summary: Great except for the ending
Review: The book was great...wonderful and intricate plot, terrific imagery, great characters...but the ending, while intriguing and vaguely satisfying, left a bad taste in my mouth. However, I'm eagerly anticipating the film "Hannibal," now that I've read the book. It should be terrific.
Rating: 
Summary: Harris let his fans down
Review: I have never anticipated a sequel with so much excitement. Consequently, it was with utter disappointment that I finished Hannibal. The book had so much potential. It started off with a great action sequence, developed Dr. Lecter's terrifying world well, and added a new monster-like character into the mix. It displayed Harris' phenomenal ability to narrate excruciating details of horrific events with a cold, almost casual detachment. However, I sense that Harris then either lost his way or simply chose to indulge himself. The climax of the story lost all of its momentum and was extremely sophomoric. And the absurd ending made a mockery of all of Harris' prior great work by causing Lecter and Starling to act totally out of character. As a Harris fan, I feel very let down. If Mr. Harris ever happens to read this, I urge him to rewrite the last half of the book and allow it to achieve its true potential.
Rating:
Summary: Very different and very bad
Review: Where SOTL was a suspenseful thriller, Hannibal is an over-obvious action/slasher book. So it seems as if was written for the big screen and panders to the "more is more" attitude towards violence in Hollywood. All the subtle "scariness" Lecter possessed in SOTL is replaced with over-the-top murders and gory action sequences that will have you thinking Bruce Willis will be better suited for the main role as opposed to a subdued Hopkins. True fear comes from knowing the situation is based in reality. Hannibal is so outlandish, it loses it's edge from the get-go. Harris took the low-road and replaced stellar storytelling with blood and gore. His thoughts must have been, "Lecter can only be so evil, so we need more evil people". Yes, everyone says they end up cheering for Lecter, but it is only because Harris makes it so. In Hannibal, Lecter only eats bad people and Harris would have you believe Lecter is really an omnipotent superhero. The ending is a joke. It just comes out of left field with no basis. Obviously, Harris didn't want to kill off his meal ticket, but in writing Hannibal, I think he accomplished the same.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible Ending
Review: I can not recommend this book. Without being too specific and so as not to ruin the book for anyone who didn't read the book but intends to, I'll just say the ending made no sense to me. When you develop a character to have a sense of him/her self and then just go 180 degrees with them. That is not a surprise ending. It is an absurd and an impossible ending.
| 
