Rating:  Summary: captivating, good ending twist... Review: kept me involved after a somewhat "slow" start... the narrative had some good twists from the predictable... left possibility for (another) sequel - although this may be questionable... Author has obviously done his research...
Rating:  Summary: Fantastic, extra-creepy, Dr. Lecter is evil incarnate! Review: Anyone who says they saw this ending comming is full of it. This is the work of a master story teller. Dr. Lecter is terrible, exquisite, learned, madd and pitiable all at once. While the relationships between Clarice Starling and her father, and Dr. Lecter and his sister are a bit overdone; it is the sheer terror of Hannibal himself that moves the story along. The author is able to switch from third to second person, from present to past tense without interrupting the flow of the text. The book isn't going to give meaning to your life or change the world. If that is what you are looking for, read something else. This is just a helluva good read and it WILL send a shiver or two down your spine - which is exactly what a book of this sort is meant to do. Plain fun to read!
Rating:  Summary: CARELESS CARELESS CARELESS! WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE CATCH THIS? Review: Major problems with HANNIBAL. I've read SILENCE OF THE LAMBS many, many times, and I'm wondering how Harris and his editors could deviate so far from the "truth" as SOTL knows it. In the 13th (coincidence??) chapter of HANNIBAL, Clarice refers to the floater she fingerprinted in West Virginia (SOTL). She says, "...when we did that floater in West Virginia. What am I saying, 'floater.' She was a person named Fredricka Bimmel..." WHAT??? That floater was NOT NAMED FREDRICKA BIMMEL! The W.V. floater was Kimberly of the glitter-painted fingernails; Fredricka Bimmel was the FIRST victim, the only one weighted, the one Jame Gumb coveted, the one whose house Starling visited in Ohio and whose darts made Starling realize what Jame Gumb was really up to. How could Harris have such poor command of his material, and how could any editor worth his salt allow such a glaring error to remain in print? Am I the ONLY one who notices such things? Anyway, like I said, this was in the 13th chapter (the book has over 100), and it was all downhill from there. I am sorely disappointed. I think I'll go curl up with a Diet Dr. Pepper and SOTL and sulk.
Rating:  Summary: Falls apart Review: There is no point is trying to criticise the ethics of Thomas Harris' books or the industry they support. However, "Hannibal" despite some good descriptive writing, is not even well-plotted. "Dr Fell" gets a jealously-guarded position without anyone checking his references or bona-fides. Hannibal Lecter, hunted by every police force, has access to unlimited money - hidden exactly how and where? A good question for accountants. Mischa's "milk-teeth" are found, but not the jaw-bone they would have come from - a much more visible object. There are no such things as "Australian quarters". How does the gypsy girl get into Australia without a visa? Etc. Etc. If you want a good "Beauty and the Beast story" with knife-edge tension, ultimately resolved, between a captive beauty and an inhuman, man-eating beast, try Hal Colebatch's long novella "Telepath's Dance" in Larry Niven's "Choosing Names: The Man-Kzin Wars VIII (Baen Books). It's better than Harris, and despite the SF elements, more believable.
Rating:  Summary: Need a rating of "0 Star" Review: Terrible book. Terrible ending. Lame scenes such as Hannibal's so called lecture on Rennaisance Art in Florence.
Rating:  Summary: What a disappointment! Review: I don't know what Thomas Harris wanted to accomplish with this book. Silence of the Lambs was riveting and wonderful. I didn't want it to end. I read Hannibal in three days just to get it over with. It was nothing but 400 pages of the most gratuitous, pointless violence. I didn't care about any of the characters. I just wanted the story to end.
Rating:  Summary: Not what I was hoping for... Review: Thomas Harris lets his fans down with"Hannibal". Where is the thrill of the hunt from "RedDragon" and "Silence of the Lambs"? Particularly annoying is Krendler, Starling's enemy in the Department of Justice. He is a total caricature, a figure too simplistic to be believable. There is almost no reference to Will Graham, who I hoped would make a return, as he is the most interesting character in the series besides Lecter. The ending is totally ludicrous; All in all, I'd recommend rereading "Dragon" and "Silence", and leaving this one on the shelves.
Rating:  Summary: Sadly disappointed Review: I read SOTL and was looking forward to reading the next installment. Hannibal is slow, self-gratifying, and the ending is completely ridiculous. If they decide to make a movie of this, I hope they hire a very good screenwriter with a new red pen.
Rating:  Summary: Good but not Great Review: I tremendously enjoyed this novel, even in spite of the shocking ending. It seems that those readers who gave this book a bad review didn't understand the author's intent. According to him, it's not Hannibal who is truely teffifying, but the politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, et al, who sell us all out on a daily basis who are truely horrifying. Hannibal represents the wolf who only prays upon the weak and sick of the herd. If you didn't like this book, may I suggest that you go stick to the safety of your T.V. Guides and crossward puzzles.
Rating:  Summary: Uuuhh -- Could I get my money back . . . ? Review: What on earth was THIS all about? I was expecting -- eagerly expecting -- a sequel to the masterful "Silence of the Lambs", with Clarice Starling, a talented young woman of determination and principle, and Dr. Lector, her brilliant, esoteric, monstrously self-disciplined mentor. But the principal characters in this book resemble their former incarnations in little besides their names. This Starling, while surpassing the former in physical courage, is a moral and spiritual coward; Lector has evolved into an ostentatious moon-calf. Moreover, the atmosphere, so chilling in the original novel, is this time merely sordid -- if not downright sickening. I think Harris should give serious thought to writing "Hannibal II, Another Option", this time at least keeping his characters in character.
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