Rating: 
Summary: More "Anne Rice" than "Bram Stoker"
Review: For those looking for a more straight forward story of good guys in pursuit of bad guys in the classic "Dracula" mold a la "Silence of the Lambs" look elsewhere. "Hannibal" is a darker, more complex, morally ambigous work of terror employing a particularly nasty anti-hero. In that way it resembles one of Anne Rice's vampire chronicles, in that the traditional villian is now the hero, the one we are routing for(with great reservations, of course, but there is a more evil character in the book than Dr. Lector, thank heavens.)Whereas in the previous novel, Clarice Starling has to "flirt" with evil to save someone's life, here we get to see the repercussions of her dangerous communion with Dr. Lector. Much has been made of the "shocking" ending, but reading carefully it's well supported, if a little farfetched. I like to think of it as a fairy tale ending, as it seems Harris has some sort of warped love story in the back of his mind: And they lived happily ever after...
Rating: 
Summary: Thomas Harris -- what happened?
Review: This book was, in a word, awful. I loved Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, but the suspense, a flawed, frail hero(ine), and the insightful characterizations are absent from his newest installment. Clarice Starling is nothing but a walking sob story, and I just can't get excited about Hannibal Lector going up against the psychokiller du jour -- reminded me of Godvilla v. Mothra, without the camp appeal. As for the ending, I've heard the saying, "there's someone for everyone," but it's a stretch that Starling and Lector are a match made in heaven (or elsewhere). The ending is so wretched, in fact, it makes Grisham's stock "they ran away to a desert island and lived happily ever after" seem inspired.
Rating:
Summary: sadly disappointing
Review: Those who loved Clairce Starling will be disappointed that she has the same types (nothing new) of flashbacks and thought patterns. Those who were breathless at the back and forth slickness of Hannibal and Starling may become angered that Hannibal now triumphs with the greatest of ease, to become the ultimate winner. The book was written as though the author simply became tired of his heroes, so created even greater monsters but tied their stories to the more clever characters, and then threw in a plot which is wholly unbelievable. It's more like "horror surfing" and far less sublime than any of his previous writing.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Writing, Excellent Plot
Review: This is a great pulp read. Harris writes better than any contemporary "action" writer I've read; he's an author, not just a storyteller. Don't get me wrong though, the story IS exciting. Lecter is more terrifying than ever. I didn't read "Silence of the Lambs" until after reading this book, so it is not a necessary pre-rec. Not the deepest book, but certainly worth the thrills. (Don't expect a mystery. While there are elements of a mystery with Clarice going after Lecter, it's NOT a who dun it type book.)
Rating:
Summary: page turner
Review: I couldn't put it down! I love the Lecter character and couldn't get enough of him. This is all about him, and it goes deep enough into his psyche to be rewarding. I loved the end although i hear many women do, and men tend to find it unbelievable! I loved it! A one day read!
Rating:
Summary: Hannibal crosses the Alps...
Review: and enters Italy, the cruciible of art, opera, and all things that Hannibal loves. I have read Tom Harris' previous books and have been constantly amazed at his ability to describe his characters. In Hannibal we see the beautiful and the macabre twisted together like some kind of strange DNA in one person, maybe not in this case fully explained (is it possible! ) but illustrated wiith amazing skill. Be prepared to read about a strange psychopath and his quest for control.
Rating:
Summary: Gimme a break!
Review: I will admit that he writes extremely well. Also, I loved Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon. However, the ending was so incredibly pathetic that for the first time in my life, I actually wanted to return a book and get my money back. The ending (was so terrible), that I can't believe I wasted my time reading the book. It's no wonder that Jodie Foster refused to reprise her role as Clarice Starling. Don't buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Easily the must-read of 2000
Review: I went into this book expecting it to be horrible after reading all the bad reviews here. I was completely surprised that I was entirely entertained with this page-turner. I haven't read any other Harris, but have seen the Lambs movie (of course!). This book stays pretty true to the characters - especially Hannibal. I actually enjoyed that the book is sort of a showdown between Lecter and Verger with less emphasis on Starling. I enjoyed: Interesting writing style, great characterization, brought us back to all the previous locations and characters of the past - plus new places like Italy and Verger's abode, great twist at the end (entirely believable to me compared to what others are saying here), a great book overall. I disliked: To much detail when it came to describing Italy and art, unbelievable characters in a part where Lecter is in a plane and a child asks to eat his "liverwurst"!, the beginning adventure really doesn't tie into anything except for creating a conflict between the FBI and Starling - there could have been a better way. Final thought, I thought it was great, and read the last 100 pages straight through till the final "dinner" with Starlings boss! Will make an AWESOME movie if done right.
Rating:
Summary: Terrifyingly awful
Review: A lame satire when you least expected it, this large and horrific lump of processed trees leaves me feeling as if Thomas Harris is entirely bored by the whole thing and typed this mess together very swiftly. Now, a satire-sequel could have been interesting and unexpected. But this satire lacks respect for the characters, it reeks of the ho hums. And the end, well, hmpf. Mink thinks Thomas Harris is far better than this and he should be ashamed of himself.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of people were disappointed with this, but I loved it.
Review: I think a lot of readers expected the wrong thing from "Hannibal". They wanted something that would act as the third part of a trilogy; to cap off these books as "Return of the Jedi" did to "Star Wars". Hannibal didn't really do that. However, the story is good enough to stand on its own, without the hype of "SoTL" to back it. Whereas in the previous books, Dr. Lecter was a complete mystery, "Hannibal" goes into his actual personality, his thoughts and reasons for things he has done. It shows Dr. Lecter as a person rather than an unexplainable monster. This is wildly different than his past portrayal. He seems to resemble one of the Crane brothers from "Frasier" more than a psychotic serial killer. Combine this with the surplus of disgustingly violent minor characters in the book, and Hannibal himself seems almost harmless. The only thing that really detracted from the quality of "Hannibal" was that it seemed Harris couldn't decide what he wanted to do with the book. Did he want to concentrate on Mason Verger's story of revenge, or did he want to elaborate on the strange relationship between Clarice and Hannibal? The story seems to fight between these two main points until the ending, which tied up all the loose ends in a thorough fashion and made use of a wonderful plot twist. I'll go against the crowd and say that I loved the ending. It was appropriately chilling for Harris-the type that sends shivers down your spine. All-in-all, "Hannibal" was a wonderful book and certainly worth reading once, twice, even three times. A very enjoyable read.
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