Rating: 
Summary: Two words...Thomas Harris
Review: This is a man who has NEVER written a bad or even mediocre book in his LIFE. What I can't understand is why EVERYONE who reviewed this book mentioned "The Silence of the Lambs" and so few mentioned "Red Dragon" which is, in my own opinion, Harris' finest work. The Lecter Trilogy, as well as "Black Sunday" should be required reading for fans of suspense fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Great beginning and middle but the ending?
Review: 5 stars for the first 80% of the book and 1 star for the last 20% for an unweighted average of 3 stars. The end seemed illogical and contrived and probably anatomically incorrect. Some parts towards the end were totally out of character and difficult to believe. Weirdest ending since the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (what really happened in the end of that movie anyway?) It appears that the ending was written either to 1) give an O. Henry-like totally unexpected surprise twist; or 2) prepare for the sequel to this book. They will probably have a different ending in the movie anyway - at least I hope so. Why did they change the very good ending of Red Dragon to the mediocre gratuitously violent ending in the movie Manhunter?
Rating: 
Summary: Eat this review, darling.
Review: Reviewing this novel in the context of the other Harris books was quite a challenge, as the last one that I read came out years ago. I do recall being glued to it on Christmas Eve that year: of course, it was THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I had read his other books as well and in my opinion he has the grace to pull off the grossest of scenes, more often than not.On the other hand, why do we need to read this? Is there something forcing us to pick up a book this repulsive? Nope. So read it only if you wish to. The thing about Thomas Harris is that in the long run, you have an author who writes one type of book, in a singular style that you can count on. He likes lush, vivid images and he likes to shock the reader in a manner so improbable it's almost as if you are in cahoots with him. You can't help but think: "He's got to be kidding!" The scenes in Florence where Hannibal is playing baroque music in an abandoned palace prove that Harris is fooling around a bit: remember Phantom of the Opera, anyone? It's so wildly, ecstatically overdramatized, it's really fun. Harris is so over the top with almost every scene, in fact, it is not surprising that he can't write a book more than once every eight or ten years. That takes a lot of WORK. Plus, he is very intelligent, and it is clear that he is a meticulous researcher. If you are female, it's fun of course to see a female heroine portrayed as a strong person, although Clarice gets a bum rap in this book from page one. Then again, the name of this novel IS ... HANNIBAL. Possibly in eight years or so, we will have another little 500 page offering from this strangely unreal, mostly entertaining, occasionally gross-- but you knew that already-- author. One called CLARICE. You never know...
Rating: 
Summary: The sad destruction of two great Characters
Review: What a dissapointment. After reading Harris's brilliant sirst two works, I expected a work at least on par with Red Dragon. While the first half of the book is a worthy attempt at plot, in the second half we witness the total destruction of both characters. While not spoiling the ending, it will surely leave fans of the series screaming "WHAT?"
Rating: 
Summary: Blech!
Review: This book was disturbing in many ways, not one of them interesting. No one who read SOL and understood the characters could believe that they are the same people in this book. I enjoy being scared by Thomas Harris; This book was not frightening just gross. If you loved SOL & TRD do not waste your time with this book. This book was not frightening just gross.
Rating:
Summary: Pulp Fiction!
Review: No matter how one disguises pulp fiction under layers of polished prose and art history, its true nature comes shining through. So it is with HANNIBAL, a TALES OF THE CRYPT story masquerading as literature. Harris delivers a movie-ready tale with an eye to the bottom line, I'm sure. In this outing, Clarice Starling is suspended from the FBI, having been made the scapecoat for a failed operation. Meanwhile Dr Lecter is living abroad in Florence and is so happy in his esthetic pursuits that he hardly bothers to kill anyone except when really necessary. Back in the States, Mason Verger, a surviving victim of the good doctor (if life in an iron lung can be called surviving), plans his revenge. Verger was a young pedophile who avoided prison by agreeing to be treated by Dr Lecter. REALLY bad choice! I did not like this book. Not only did Harris betray his finest character, Clarice Starling, he did it in the ugliest possible way. I did not like the fact that he gave Lecter a back story that trotted out the over-used "abuse excuse" to explain the monster he became. I liked him much better as a straight up psycho. As for Mason Verger, you can find him or his ilk in every banned comic book from the 40s and 50s. Jodie Foster passed on the upcoming movie. Class always tells.
Rating:
Summary: Solution to Insomnia
Review: I recently become addicted to books on tape as a result of an extended commute time. However, what I have found is that when the author reads his own work, you can usually expect to be disappointed. And I was. Thomas Harris may be a great writer of fiction for all I know, but he is absolutely terrible as a narrator. His monotone dialogue almost put me to sleep at the wheel. He did not change the inflection in his voice to reflect when the different characters were speaking, which most professionals do. As such, I only made it through the first tape and then stuck it back in my collection for a possible later listening when I am comatose or brain dead and it might sound more interesting at that time. All books on tape should be read by professional actors, not the authors. The authors usually write great (which is why they get to audio tape), but they read rotten. I truly wish Hannibal was read by Jay O. Sanders, David Ogden Stiers, John Pankow, or someone who had experience doing this sort of thing. My advice would be maybe to get the book, but ABSOLUTELY DO NOT buy the audio tape. It is truly awful. I think I'll try to sell mine at auction. Unfortunately I probably will get only about 2 cents, which is about what it is worth.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a second read
Review: This is the first novel by Thomas Harris I read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. On the negative side -- I did see the movie, The Silence of the Lambs, and I do find it difficult to picture Jodie Foster's Starling (and most likely, as other reviewers have stated, the book's characterization of her) as Hannibal's Starling. Also I was disappointed that Mr. Harris chose to let some of his more interesting characters go, and bring to the forefront more -- yes -- TV-like -- creations. Nonetheless I truly liked this book -- I couldn't put it down. Harris writes well and includes some beautiful Italian poetry, and interesting references to Dante. I would recommend this book, except to those more easily grossed-out.
Rating:
Summary: Destruction of Harris's most fascinating character
Review: I'm still hoping that someone will tell me that this book was written by someone other than Thomas Harris. This piece of tripe could not have come from the man who gave us the deliciously disturbing Hannibal Lecter of "Red Dragon" and "Silence of The Lambs." Before, there was an inscrutable mystery of Lecter's motivations and delicious cat-and-mouse games; now, we get a freakish menagerie of characters (none of whom are detailed in the previous novels), an incredibly weak explanation of Lecter (you mean to tell me that the stoic demon of "Silence of the Lambs" cries out in his sleep? I don't think so), and destruction of the interplay between Lecter and his interviewers, as Starling falls under his spell. This last might not be as inconceivable as some reviewers would have you believe, but Harris's surrealistic attention to detail creates an ending as anti-climactic as it is absurd (Lecter's escape would have been laughed out of an ed wood movie). Lecter was so fascinating because of his mystery... an explained Lecter, particularly a poorly explained one, is an uninteresting one. If you loved the first two books, keep away from this one, and keep your enjoyment of Lecter intact.
Rating:
Summary: swing and a miss
Review: Admire Mr. Harris for trying a twist ending- clearly not at all what was expected by fans of his earlier work. Unfortunately, the twist requires us to erase everything we know about HL and Starling. Starling, whose poor Appalachian background has been, shall we say, rather heavily emphasized in previous novels, suddenly, thanks to some hypnotic drugs, develops wealthy-snobbish affectations. Mastermind HL collapses, thanks to a narcotic dart, into a sappy sad-sack. All this is the disappointing conclusion of a rather tedious (although airplane-readable) ride through a crime potboiler. Save your money.
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