Rating: 
Summary: Chilling. humorous, a walk in the palace of an insane mind
Review: Hannibal, like most Mr. Thomas' books are impossible to put down. I was horrified by Dr. Lecter, yet charmed by his character when it came to Clarice, his exquisite taste and wonderful revengeful tactics. I never thought it would be possible to hate a character more than Hannibal, but Mason fit that bill nicely. I hated the end! I loved the end! I was greatly disturbed by the end! Just the emotions a good novel should elicit in the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: great plot but lacks scientific background of previous books
Review: Hannibal is a quick read. It has a great plot and new interesting characters. It however lacks the scientific details that made Silence of the Lambs a great story and novel.
Rating:
Summary: People who put less than 4 stars just don't get it
Review: You have to wonder about both the reading ability and literary knowledge of someone who was not impressed by this work. Steven King is pretty good, but Harris really writes circles around him. Harris also has done substantial amounts of research (I hope he didn't devote the past 10 years just to research; kind of absurd, really, just for a novel). His use of subtlety, commanding character portrayal, incredibly vivid descriptions, and powerful plot-forging make this book wonderful to read, whether or not you just want to get to the killing.It seems as if the only people that would not enjoy this book are those that just wanted action and gore. Yes, the end takes a risky chance with major character deviations, but hasn't that puzzled you and made you think about its plausibility and WHY Harris did this? The guy is incredibly intelligent, so you know it wasn't just because he couldn't think of anything or got lazy. Gimme a break, you <=3 star people; perhaps you are just not pondering or philosophically inclined enough for this book.
Rating:
Summary: I'm an avid fan of horror, and this is one of the great ones
Review: Although there were parts of the book that seemed to move pretty slowly, the insights into Hannibal's childhood, details and present ongoings of a previous victim, and the outstanding ending make this book a must read.
Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for Silence II, you're wasting your time.
Review: The enormous number of responses to this book from almost every concievable viewpoint is the first tipoff (aside from the book itself) that this is an extraordinary work of fiction. Is it 'believable'? Is it 'plausible'? Of course not. It's a work of fiction. It's excessive, outrageous and transgressive; it's also very profound and deeply satisfying. I've read the other two, and it seems to me Harris achieves levels of complexity and depth in this one that he hadn't even begun to approach in the others. No longer is Clarice Starling the flawed Superwoman of Silence; nor is Lecter simply a fascinating psychopath. With this book, Harris transcends genre and character psychology and creates myth, without losing his impressive straightforward storytelling skills. However, if you're only reading this book for story, not only are you missing out on an awful lot, you're probably missing the point entirely -- which is my hopeful explanation for the extremely hostile reactions to certain elements of the plot and to the ending, which I thought was inevitable from the start, and prayed Harris wouldn't shy away from. My only complaint is the often undistinguished prose, although sections like the one on Hannibal's 'memory palace' and parts of the Florence chapters are beautifully carried off. With this book, Harris (who is from Mississippi) joins the pantheon of great contemporary Southern writers (Anne Rice, Donna Tartt, recent Poppy Z. Brite) who are working at a level of moral weight and philosophical inquiry that most contemporary Northeastern writers (Updike, Oates, Roth, etc.) can't approach, or won't. In all its weird, transcendent glory, Hannibal is a great modern novel, one that will be read for decades, if not centuries, to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Lesson: Entropy Consumes Everything
Review: If you are looking to settle into a horror novel with an ending that satisfies most mass audience's expectations, think again. The theme of the novel is that entropy, death, comes to all and the ending is extremely unsettling as it should be. I believe Harris was trying to give that simple lesson and to remind everyone that there are evil elements in the world and that final stage of life is as cold as the eyes of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. If this movie makes it to the big screen, the ending would probably be reworked in the fashion of Hollywood to satisfy and give everyone a sense of security that they're grasping for. If there was one word that could sum up the entire novel, it would be disturbing.
Rating: 
Summary: This book read like one big book of cool cop terms.
Review: After almost 10 years since his last book, I sure expected alot more. More to the point, If an author is going to write about "cops" or law enforcement he should have one proof read it to see if cops really talk like that. He also needed better research, nobody referes to ATF as BATF, U.S. Marshals do not wear uniforms and unless you are a member of the FBI HRT team you do not carry a colt "cocked and locked" 45. After about three chapters of these inaccuracies and all the cop jargon one can handle I had to put the book down.
Rating:
Summary: An exceptional read...but not without flaws
Review: I loved this book! In a world so concerned with making sure that all stories have clearly delineated "good" and "evil," it is so refreshing to find a book that operates above these limiting options. It seems to me that the point is not that Lecter is evil and Clarice is good, but rather that Lecter represents a force that stands outside our limited vision and notions of morality. Watching Clarice's (unfortunately too-quick and not-entirely-believable) transformation is thrilling precisely because we get to watch her emerge from the cocoon of her "traditionally moral" world and enter a world whose moral absolutes are not yet ours to understand (nor, for that matter, are they likely "absolute"). May her tastes (and her mentor's) continue to expand!
Rating:
Summary: Evil masquerading in high culture
Review: After years of anticipation, Harris offers the opportunity to journey into the mind of the notorious and infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter, clearly Harris' pride and joy. The novel is beautifully scripted and filled with many insights into the world that Lecter inhabits and his movements within. Dr. Lecter's rarified tastes extend beyond his cuisine into the realms of music, literature, art, and a supercharged Jaguar. The problem, in my opinion, is that it would seem that he is a force of nature, a manifestation of evil, rather a human being who moves through the novel as if in a lucid dream of Lecter's own design. Harris is undoubtedly proud of his creation who is stronger, smarter and more clever than anyone he has ever encountered. His invulnerability seems rather implausible and I often wished that there was a greater foil to him. If this were compared to a chess game, the opening was enticing which draws the reader into the plot, the mid-game had a decent amount of intrigue although certain parts seemed suspended in a tired loop, and the end-game is predictable and falls short of being compeling and even believable. It will certainly beg a third installment which I hope will reconcile the mistakes of this one.
Rating:
Summary: This is an interesting follow-up to Silence of the Lambs
Review: While this book has been deemed a sequel by some, it isn't really- it features the same characters, but that's about it. It definitely was an interesting read, and Harris's prose is outstanding. There are wonderful descriptions of everything from Florence to a lobotomy. I was a bit disappointed with the ending of this book, I didn't feel it followed how the characters had been developed, but overall it is an excellent book and I would advise all Harris fans to read it.
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