Rating: 
Summary: Not a bad Read...
Review: If you are a fan of THe Silence of the Lambs, This book is for you. There are a few slow spots and some unessisary rubbish thrown in there, but it is well worth it for the ending. You're either going to love it or hate it, and I loved it
Rating: 
Summary: High Marks for Hannibal
Review: Now this is a piece of work. I did not read "Silence...", so I cannot compare the two works. However, if one's not too sensitive to read some pretty graphic descriptions this is a great read. I found the characterizations to be superb (Mason, Margot, Barney) - and of course the main two - Claire and Hannibal). The author's attention to detail (Florence, as an example) was engaging, and the plot twisted and turned. I will never look at a swine the same way again.The ending was a complete surprise - loved it. Too bad the author isn't as prolific as Mr Grisham. Good stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: outragest in the wrong way
Review: My honest opinion on this book is that it was too lengthy on the subject of Italy. Middle chapters devoted to this section were wasted and time that should clearly have been spent on Clarice, wasn't. Another disappointment was the ending. I suggest sticking with " The Silence..." as the last book in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: To Be Insane or Not to Be Insane
Review: I have read many other reviews and was under the impression that Hannibal would be a very disappointing ending to Silence of the Lambs. However, it didn't turn out that way. Hannibal is very slow-moving. The book starts out with a bunch of action, but then sort of declines downhill, but as you toward the climax, it becomes very suspenseful. As slow-moving as Hannibal is, you're drawn into the story and you don't really want to stop reading it. In Hannibal, you finally understand where Dr. Lecter is coming from. You learn about what happened to him when he was a child and how he may have gone insane. But really, when you think about it, Hannibal Lecter is not really insane. He was given the title "insane genius," but really he's probably the most sane person on Earth. I personally think he's going along with being insane just so he won't have to face his victims' families in court and face the death penalty. Yes, I do realize he has a thing for eating livers and the sweetbreads from a person, but take note he only ate the sweetbreads from one of his victims' and no others. Hannibal was a very thrilling book that is slow-moving, but is well worth being read.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a read
Review: Having loved "Silence of the Lambs", I anxiously anticipated this book, and I can't say I was entirely disappointed. However, I must say that anyone looking forward to a second "Silence of the Lambs" will be disheartened. This book has a pessimistic outlook, with few happy or hopeful moments. Heros, it seems, do not always meet our expectations, and can fall from grace, perhaps leading us to care less for them. Although I suppose the ending of this book could be construed as happy by some, it's not exactly uplifting, and would certainly be found disturbing by most people. However, anyone who chooses to read this book after reading "Silence of the Lambs" could certainly not be expecting a story of happiness and light.I actually found the content of this book more distressing than the previous two, not so much due to Lecter's activities, but rather those of Mason Verger. In an interesting turn, there arises a monster more heinous than even Dr. Lecter and Jame Gumb, and you find yourself fairly rooting for Lecter to avoid capture and exact punishment on someone even less appealing. I found very interesting the description of the palace of Hannibal Lecter's mind. It reminded me briefly of something I have read elsewhere, explaining how some people with photographic memories manage to retain so much of what they have seen. This book is written with a certain elegance, and Dr. Lecter's character's cultural refinements make for colourful images. It was also nice to see some of Lector's history, which may explain some of his deviant personality traits. The plot of this story definitely creates some unique imagery. Once scene in particular, near the end, left me hoping that a movie will be made based on this book, because I would be curious to see how special effects could be utilized to create a scenario I have certainly never envisioned before. If you are a fan of the horror genre, are not squeamish, and are curious as to what became of Dr. Lecter and Clarice, I recommended reading this book. This book, although shocking and disturbing at times, is definitely not predictable, and won't leave you yearning for a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Thought for Food
Review: Indeed this book has a blazing pace and is hard to put down. I find some of the graphic detail related to the crimes a bit far-fetched, especially the very last crime, but as Harris was a crime reporter, I assume the depiction is real. On the other hand, the research related to things Italian is remarkable in its precision. The most controversial part of this book is its ending. It will certainly give you food for thought (hehe, once you read the ending you will realize that the pun was intended). The more I think about it the more I believe that the ending has a large swab of realism tinged with a bit of Ionesco's theater of the absurd. The combination is refreshing. As for Lector himself, we are reminded of his insanity by his deeds alone, and not by the inner sanctum of the mind that Harris treats us to. Eccentric yes, but not patently insane by the thoughts we are given. Anyone looking for a riveting thriller should put Hannibal on the list of good reads, especially if you are planning a long (trans-oceanic) airplane ride and have burned out on hardly audible in-flight movies.
Rating:
Summary: Put paid to Hannibal and Harris
Review: In the first 100 pages we meet Mason whom Hannibal Lector tricks into slicing off his face with a piece of glass and feeding it bit by bit to starving dogs he's penned up. Then Hannibal breaks his neck and paralizes him. Mason does not die but rather lives in a wing of his house, behind a monacle (he cut out his other eye and the remaining eye must be misted for the dogs got BOTH eyelids) where he tortures orphaned black children into killing their kittens. This is revolting. My lord, I thought that I was immune from shock considering what I did in earlier days but this is too much. Realistic detail be damned; that defense could be used of Dr. Mengele's journals. This is perverse. If you read this, it will spoil your associations with the places where you read it. It ruined a vacation on South Padre Island for me.
Rating:
Summary: Most definately worth the read!
Review: Don't be dissuaded by the negative reviews! Everyone likes different things, and I most certainly liked this novel and found it a quite worthy ending to the Hannibal Lecter Saga. I rather liked the ending (which I won't give away), and did not find it out of character for either Clarice or Lecter. For the reviewer who claimed this novel explained Lecter, let me tell you, it did anything but! Maybe revealed some of his past, yes, and helped you understand his motivations, Hannibal is still not "explained". Clarice is in a different place in her life then when we left her in Silence of the Lambs. Her promising career is left in shambles, (I've leave it to you to read the book and discover why) and she's got more years to her credit, now, and I think where she is at the end of the book is quite understandable, and where I always hoped she'd be. :) Hannibal knew, from the first moment he met her, that she was like him. Not an uplifting read, (and, of course, not for the squeamish) but most certainly well worth the time. You thought The Silence of the Lambs was dark? SotL looks pink and fluffy next to Hannibal.
Rating:
Summary: The Story Concluded
Review: The ending of "The Silence of the Lambs" left Clarice Starling at her FBI Academy graduation. It seemed that her future, if not assured, was at least on the fast track. She was a protégé of Jack Crawford, legendary head of the FBI's elite Profiling Unit. She had been instrumental in locating the serial killer known as Buffalo Bill and in fact had fired the bullet that killed him. In so doing she had saved the daughter of a United States senator-a woman dedicated to protecting and defending the role of women in government. It wasn't hard for the reader to imagine Clarice thirty years hence as the first female FBI Director in history. But the intervening seven years have changed much. The senator who might have become her advocate was defeated in the next election. Clarice's mentor, Jack Crawford, has become an old man, emotionally crippled by the death of his wife. He is sliding toward retirement and senility with what seems to be equal speed. She has attracted the attention of Paul Krendler, a high-ranking Treasury Department official who believes the only function of women in government is to be bedpartners for men like himself. When she rejects him he decides to punish her by destroying her career. If there's anything more vulnerable than a woman trying to make it in a man's world, it's a woman who is good enough to pose a real threat to the men. Clarice Starling has become a surplus agent, loaned out to the District of Columbia Police Department or anyone else who needs an extra warm body. It is a situation in which she has no way to win but many ways to lose. Playing counterpoint to this melody is Mason Verger, one of the few of Lecter's victims to survive. Wealthy beyond measure, Verger lives on full-time life-support. He hangs onto the frail thread of life for only one reason-he wants to capture Hannibal Lecter and watch him die a slow and agonizing death. As the new book opens, Verger and Krendler have joined forces because they share a common goal. Krendler doesn't want Clarice to capture Lecter because to do so would put her forever beyond the reach of his vengeance. Verger doesn't want Clarice to capture Lecter because the government would just return him to jail. Verger wouldn't have the pleasure of killing him, slowly and painfully. Lecter, meanwhile, has taken up residence in a mid-sized Italian town. Masquerading as Dr. Fell, a retired professor of medieval literature, he is a model citizen. His neighbors think him a little aloof but that's considered normal for wealthy Americans. Here is where we see the only real weakness in Harris's plot. By all accounts Lecter has been behaving himself. There have been no unexplained murders or disappearances in the area to attract the attention of either the local police or the FBI. Despite that, Verger's agents manage to find Lecter. They set a plot to kidnap him and turn him over to Verger. Lecter, of course, anticipates the plot and foils it, killing several of the would-be kidnappers in the process. But his cover is blown; he has to go on the run again. Being, as always, smarter than the police who are trailing him, he decides to go to the one place they're sure he'd never try to go, and where they're sure they could capture him if he tried. Lecter returns to the United States. It is at about this point that the careful reader can almost hear Harris's thoughts. Being a talented and experienced writer, he knows the story isn't working. The readers of "Silence" had demanded a story about Hannibal Lecter, but despite his best efforts this isn't Lecter's story. It is Clarice's. She has become both heroine and victim. Lecter merely plays a strong supporting role, as he did in "Silence." Even worse, the story is going where Harris knows he cannot allow it to go. The only way for Clarice to salvage her career is to capture or kill Lecter-and that's the one outcome neither Harris nor his readers will tolerate. One can almost see him sitting at the keyboard muttering, "How can I salvage this thing without starting over?" Then, as strongly as we sensed his dilemma, we sense that he has found a solution. The story moves forward with a speed and vigor characteristic of Harris's earlier works but not heretofore seen in "Hannibal." Crises are resolved and comeuppances gotten. In a grand finale reminiscent of the stunning conclusion of Harris's earlier "Red Dragon," Clarice saves Lecter's life then he saves hers. But there are five chapters left, and the fundamental conflict of Clarice's career versus Lecter's freedom remains unresolved. In these final chapters the reader is treated to a metamorphosis seldom seen in literature. They are not Thomas Harris but rather Anne Rice out of Thomas Harris, written with the otherworldly texture and subtle eroticism that Rice has made her trademark. The story ends in a way that some readers will find satisfying, others will refuse to believe, and more than a few will find vaguely disturbing. Whatever the reader's reaction, Harris has accomplished what he wanted. The book is a bestseller, and it deserves to be. It may be made into a movie, and probably should be. But there will be no clamor for another book. The story of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling is finished.
Rating:
Summary: An inelegant story, elegantly told
Review: Yes, Hannibal Lecter is one sick puppy. Anyone who entered this book without understanding that single fact no doubt was appalled by the mind of the protagonist. There is more to this book than gore, however. Mr. Harris's writing is so elegant and so polished that it is easy to fall in love with the words on the page. Combine this talent with the author's marvelous sense of irony and you have a book that is gratifying on many levels. The characters, from the haunted Clarice Starling to the haunting Mason Verger, are complete and all too believable; the plot, while twisted, is not convoluted, and the narrative is compelling. It is the way the words are put together, though, that made this book so satisfying. It is at once gruesome, disturbing and extremely beautiful.
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