Thomas Harris earned himself a spot in the hall of fame for literary horrors with his Hannibal Series. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Steven King (IT), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and Bram Stoker (Dracula), Harris takes us on a rollercoaster ride to the realm of crime fiction and criminal intent.
Consisting of 4 books; Hannibal Rising, The Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs and finally Hannibal.
The order of their release is a bit different but for personal (obvious) reasons, they’ve been arranged and reviewed chronologically.
The vivid color in this collection of work paints the brilliance of an unusual boy in unnaturally sadistic circumstances and his curve to becoming the infamous criminal ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’, Dr. and psychiatrist extraordinaire. It’s no wonder the story of our petrifying protagonist was adapted for the tv screen. Twice! First as a movie and then a tv series.
Hannibal Rising
The story kicks off with a plot set in Lithuania WW2 era. Lithuania and the Baltic regions are considered some of the bloodiest places during the war. Our young Hannibal is introduced as very intelligent and very intense for a boy his age. Complex and hungry for knowledge. Misfortune falls when his family is driven into hiding and killed, save forhimself and his baby sister who are captured by a band of soldiers. Mischa, the sister, is subsequently murdered and cooked in what used to be her metal bathtub. Hannibal, beaten, broken and battered is then force fed his baby sisters flesh before being cast into the chaotic wastelands of the war. This singular sadistic event can be identified as the thread behind the makings of our monster. The story goes on with Hannibal suffering post traumatic symptoms and obsessing over avenging his family and more specifically his baby sister. A thrilling read, which Harris himself considers as the story of ‘how the man becomes the monster’
“Here in the hot darkness of his mind, let us feel together for the latch. By our efforts we may watch as the beast within turns from the teat and, working upwind, enters the world.”
-Thomas Harris
This chilling origin story is the cold that embraces us into the icy darkness of Hannibal’s heart. It’s 4 stars leaning heavy on 5 stars from me.
The Red Dragon
In my opinion, the reason behind the sickening admiration most fans have for Hannibal is his impeccable manners and repertoire. The prince of darkness wears three piece suits, prepares his own Michelin-star meals, lives in a and immaculately furnished house in the middle of Baltimore and drives a Bentley. He also wears a $180,000 watch. Even his wit is top tier as he runs through his glossary of cannibal jokes, a personal favorite being;
“I’m having a friend for dinner”
Lecter’s set up pretty nicely and Harris leaves no detail to spare as he describes to the reader the modern day DaVinci with a cannibals compulsion for consumption.
But this book is not centered on Hannibal.
We learn of his tasteful appetite in passing, instead we follow Will Graham; FBI profiler and his ‘everything but interesting’ relationship with Hannibal. After his input in getting Cannibal Hannibal Lecter caught and apprehended, he sighs relief then retires with his wife and step-son to a quiet place in Florida. Unfortunately not long enough after, another psychopathic killer is on the loose. With investigations on the gruesome murder of two families on his hands Jack Crawford, Will’s mentor and former boss, recalls Will from retirement.
The fragile Will is once again thrown neck deep into danger with the killer on his trail, as Hannibal foils Will’s efforts even from prison in Cheasapeak Asylum.
The backstory of the killer is presented as a side plot, we see into his mind and almost sympathize with him as we follow his childhood misfortune into his adulthood delusions.
The Red Dragon will have any reader teetering off the edge of their seat and biting their nails for the intense suspense and thrill of the story.
It deserves 5 stars again and again with every read.
The Silence of the Lambs
The inner workings on the FBI are laid bare in this book. With intricate detail, Harris runs through the politics of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and it’s procedures for criminal apprehension.
We’re introduced to a new central character; Agent Clarice Starling, an intelligent detective fresh out of the academy. She’s very good with a gun. Agent Starling is called up by Crawford to participate in one of the goriest, strangest cases the Bureau has ever seen. In a ditch attempt at unraveling the mystery she’s sent to meet Hannibal Lecter, who’s been isolated in a high security mental asylum. The eerie title refers directly to one of the conversations Starling has with Lecter as he bores into her past, and with psychological savvy, plants seeds of Stockholm’s Syndrome in the green horned agent. In some light Lecter was – like the DC comics villain “The Joker” – moulding his Harley Quin.
There are two brilliantly villainous antagonists in Silence of the Lamb, first the murderer being pursued and then Hannibal- the genius monster behind bars. Starling must obviously be cautious of both in this whirlpool of mystery but it is painfully clear who she fears most. The monster in the asylum, who helps solve the case and has sinister plans running through his twisted imagination.
The heat of the spotlight doesn’t rest for too long on the primary villain of this book. This puzzling character doesn’t offer the reader much of a chance to understand or empathise with him, just enough to attach the crimes to their killer. As if that were not weight enough to bear, the killer’s methods are a considerable burden on the already strained resources of the FBI. Without Hannibal, the Bureau wouldn’t know its own tail to chase.
The 5 star Silence of the Lamb book sets the stage for the final book of the series…
Hannibal
Set seven years after Hannibal’s escape from prison in the previous book, this book with its mindlessly gory detail gives us one final look at the uncanny romance between Starling and Hannibal. From his exile, Hannibal continues to dot on his most recent acquaintance, sending her notes and thoughtful gifts.
Starting off with a bullet filled showdown between DC drug dealers and a number of feds, including a salty Clarice Starling once again on the frontlines of danger. The bust goes sour and Starling is shoved under the bus for killing a number of suspects, this is for her the beginning of her last days in the FBI. There’s a puppet master manipulating the politics of the Bureau and Starling is in the ropes for a dismissal. The hand is our villain of this novel, Mason Verger.
After a brief yet unforgivable moment with Lecter, Verger becomes his 6th victim and spares no resource in vengefully seeking him out of exile. Starling is a useful pawn in Verger’s plans for catching the cannibal.
With Lecter’s memorable interactions with Verger, Harris seems to dull out some of his more monstrous qualities to emphasize a moral contrast between Hannibal Lecter the Cannibal and Mason Verger the Vile. Moreso He(Harris) uses this to shed more light on Lecters relationship with Starling, which is conspicuously similar to his childhood trauma. Misery loves company as it turns out both their traumatic histories create the strong bond between them.
A very good read to pass time. Hannibal is a novel of revelation and conclusion, but there remain unanswered questions that puzzle the reader as the curtains draw to a close. The theatrics that conclude the story are elegantly positioned and play on the emotions of the reader to good effect.
This book gets 3 stars from me as it pales in comparison to the earlier books in the series, a diamond in the rough nonetheless.
Altogether Harris put together a chilling thriller tailored to perfection with this series. A resounding applause is continually channelled towards him by way of wide eyed surprise and other jaw dropping reactions from new(and old) readers as they peruse these terrifying pages and inevitably befriend Harris’ Monster.
