Thomas Harris turns a poet in his description of Hannibal. This book is not to be read for the gory of it or to understand Hannibal, it is to be read for Harris' vision of Hannibal. He takes descriptive writing to a new dizzy height.

Although I don't read many books this had to of been the best PERIOD.......................................

I enjoyed reading the book from the beginning right near the end. And being a sadistic person, I was excited with what was about to happen to Dr. Lecter. Then all of a sudden, a stupid twist. I clearly don't understand what Harris was thinking of when he wrote the ending [remainder of review removed because of plot spoilers).

Quite a disappointment for fans of the previous books, like myself. The writing is still great, if more affected, but the characters have become cliched and the book plods at an uneven pace. The author attempts to humanize Hannibal and even tries to blame his behavior on the Nazis, of all things. And the ending is just absurd. Instead of being shocked, as was probably intended, I found myself rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of it. I guess Harris decided, in the end, to make his heroine the biggest monster of all. That would be fine, if it was believable.

Slop, crap, pulp, take your pick. After all, any of those words could describe 'Hannibal' perfectly. Thomas Harris knew that his book would be made into a movie, and with that fact also comes the fact that no matter what he's going to make alot of money. So what did he do? Instead of writing a great psychological thriller that would astound and impress readers for years to come, he wrote a 400+ page crap-fest that I could have written better when I was four. He seems to have forgotten quite a few facts about his main character, Clarice Starling (I'm fairly sure that according to the Silence of the Lambs her father was a town marshall, NOT a night watchman. Smooth move), a big no-no in the book world. As if that weren't bad enough, we get one of the single stupidest endings in the history of book-writing. Instead of a thrilling confrontation of good and evil, we get Clarice deciding it's more fun to be a cannibal, and after joyously speaking to her father ("My daddy's here? Alright!"), joins Lecter in South America. And to make things worse, we're suddenly supposed to feel sorry for Hannibal Lecter. His sister died when he was little, and he wants Clarice to take her place. BOO-HOO. The good doctor is more interesting when he's evil without any reason. All I can say is, to those of you who hated the movie version, take a look at where it came from and then seriously rethink your arguments against the people involved.

Dorian
Absolutely Amazing... Harris continued down the road to success with
Hannibal. When reading a book I look for a few important things:
interesting characters, facinating plot, and attention grabbing. I love
a book so unbeliveable you could not possibly put it down. I was very
impressed with Mr. Harris for writing the end the way he did. Too many
books and movies end "perfect world." Starling is a person who also does
not live in a "utopia" she is also changed by circumstances in life. Have
you ever done something which surprised you or floored others? No matter
how many morals someone like Starling has you cannot escape the intrigue
which Hannibal creates. His sick, twisted, and devious mind is the
attraction, even I like him and respect him. He is truly one of the most
captivating killers you love to watch, read, and know. I hope this is not
the end of his existence.

Eric D. Cole
This was one great book! The suspense just builds and builds until you can't stand but to read the whole thing in one setting. Harris does a great job of bringing you into the book with such great vivid and exacting details. A great read that will scare and gross you out, but you'll forever cherish in your memory.

Momoko
I've read all the Hannibal books now, and each one just gets better. This book was soo amazing, I could hardly put it down! It kept you in suspense, and the last hundred-or-so pages is my favorite, and I keep reading it over and over. I thought the ending was perfect, paul krendler deserved it, and Clarice and Hannibal make a strange, but interesting couple. Ya better go read it now!