by Eric (Sword) Beaty

Created on: July 16, 2008

Book Review
Hannibal Rising
Thomas Harris

Imagine this: You've got a reputation for being one of the deadliest, most cold-blooded killers in the world; you can't go anywhere without supervisionnot anywhere; oh, and you eat people. Would you sympathize with this person? Of course not, at least not until you've read "Hannibal Rising" by Thomas Harris (Paperback / Dell Publishing Company / May 2007 / $7.99 / ISBN 044024286X).

This fourth installment of the well-known "Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter" series is ironically the most recent in the series, though it's actually a prequel to the other three ("Red Dragon", "The Silence of the Lambs", and "Hannibal"). It's much shorter than its predecessors but still packs a powerful punch while still yet delivering the humanity of the callous killer.

A mostly troubled past only hinted at in the third and previous book ("Hannibal") is more "fleshed out" in this novel. In "Hannibal Rising", we get to meet new, intriguing characters including Hannibal's foster parents (the father figure from which he took the surname Lecter), his sort-of step sister Chiyoh, and yet another curious inspector, Popil (not the infomercial guy). A strange, though believable, love interest by the name of Lady Murasaki also dominates the pages of this masterfully written book.

As you know in "Hannibal", Hannibal Lecter was a lonely orphan accompanied by his biological sister Mischa. They were taken captive by a band of Germans, and only Hannibal managed to escape. Now, in the present day tale, people are turning up dead in various "trademark" ways. All trails seem to lead to a much younger Hannibal, and with the inspector Popil constantly on his heels, we get to witness the development of a masterful con artist, sketch artist, and a hint of Hannibal's acute senses and abilities concerning the human psyche.

In short, the reader is taken on a journey to the center of the human perspective of what is called in all four books a monster. Monsters aren't just monsters, after all; they're made into monsters. In "Hannibal Rising", we get to see what made Hannibal Lecter the immortal literary figure he is today. One can only hope to see what's in store next for Hannibal and his beloved Clarice... and soon! Harris, though one of the great masters of the craft, is notorious for being laboriously slow between works. Let's hope this won't be the case with his next work of fiction. Only time will tell. 4 out of 5 stars.

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