Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3)

Title: Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3)

Author: Thomas Harris

Published in: 1999

Date read: 21st July 2009

Score: 5/5

Genre: Horror, Psychological, Crime, Detective

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Hannibal" by Thomas Harris is the third novel in the series featuring Dr. Hannibal Lecter, following "The Silence of the Lambs." It picks up seven years after Lecter's escape, exploring his continued psychological games and the obsessive pursuit by those he has marked.

The story largely centres on Clarice Starling, now a disgraced FBI agent whose career has been damaged by a botched drug raid. She is also still haunted by her previous encounters with Hannibal Lecter. Unbeknownst to her, Lecter has been living a lavish, if reclusive, life in Florence, Italy, under an assumed identity as a curator.

However, the past catches up to both of them. Mason Verger, a hideously disfigured and immensely wealthy former patient of Lecter's, is obsessed with revenge. Verger was Lecter's fourth surviving victim, left quadriplegic and with a face that was literally fed to dogs, all at Lecter's manipulative suggestion. Using his vast resources, Verger launches a global hunt for Lecter, offering a massive reward. He plans a gruesome revenge: to feed Lecter alive to a specially bred, man-eating wild boars.

Verger enlists the corrupt U.S. Justice Department official Paul Krendler, who also holds a grudge against Clarice Starling. Krendler manipulates Starling into taking a highly publicised, career-risking case that he hopes will draw Lecter out into the open, allowing Verger's traps to close around him.

Lecter, intrigued by Starling's intelligence and unique spirit, has been sending her cryptic letters and gifts, observing her from afar. When he learns of Verger's plot and the danger Clarice is in, he returns to America, setting a complex trap of his own.

The novel features graphic violence and psychological manipulation. Clarice finds herself caught between Verger's vengeful scheme, Lecter's dangerous protection, and the treacherous politics within the FBI. The climax involves a horrific confrontation at Mason Verger's estate, where Lecter orchestrates a brutal end for Verger.

The most controversial aspect of the novel is its ending, which sees Lecter capture Starling. Through intense psychological conditioning and perhaps even a form of brainwashing, Lecter attempts to break down Starling's identity and merge her with his own dark, refined world. The book concludes with Starling having seemingly abandoned her former life and principles, choosing to live with Lecter as his intellectual and emotional equal, a dark mirror of their previous relationship. This ending ignited significant debate among fans and critics, diverging sharply from the implied trajectory of Starling's character in previous books.

Comments:
I don't think that we will ever have an antagonist in a book or film that will come close to the evil and malice that oozes from Hannibal Lecter. Credit where it is due, Sir Anthony Hopkins brings mush of it to the film versions but the book lays out the character and he makes it soar. This book brings it all to an amazing conclusion, I just wish that the film version had stuck to the correct ending for his final act of butchery/surgery.

Books that we've read by Thomas Harris (4):
Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter, #1) (1981), The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2) (1988), Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3) (1999), Hannibal Rising (Hannibal Lecter #4) (2006)