Hannibal Rising

By: Thomas Harris

Narrated by: Thomas Harris

He is one of the most haunting characters in all of literature. At last the evolution of his evil is revealed.

Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck. He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him. Hannibal’s uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle’s beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki. Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France. But Hannibal’s demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn. He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death’s prodigy.

Serial thriller: don't miss more from Thomas Harris.©2006 Yazoo Fabrications, Inc. (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“There are images of morbid beauty here.... Harris' handling of the wartime violence is also impressive, as swift and vicious as the blitzkrieg itself.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Gripping detail.... [Harris] moves the story along at an impressively fast clip.” (Boston Globe)

Just another reason writers shouldn't narrate...

This book was great, but it only strengthened my belief that the authors of the books should in no way narrate their own books....

Good origin story

Thankfully, I had read the reviews about the narration and was prepared for it. I don't think it is as bad as others have made it out to be. Remembering the different foreign names was a bit tricky only because I am not accustomed to hearing them. The overall story is good and I can't wait to listen to the next.

eh

struggled to finish. not as good as other books in series. Harris' reading was amazing with accents

not boring

slow at the beginning but definitely picks up later to where I lost myself in the story.

Love this Author

Great story and a really great narration. Listened to this in one whole sitting while fishing. Highly recommend!

Wish a voice actor would’ve read it

I hate to write this as a fellow Southerner, but I almost returned this audiobook multiple times due to the author’s Southern accent being so distracting. I flew through the first three audiobooks of the Lecter series because the voice actors were all incredible in their own ways, and I easily got sucked into the story. It has taken me about 4x as long to get through this one because I kept having to go back and re-listen to other parts over and over. The various accents he does are not bad, but his primary one truly just does not fit the story at all, especially compared to the first three audiobooks. He just doesn’t set the scene as well, so it’s easier to wander off mindlessly. I’m glad I finished the audiobook, but I will definitely be picking up the hard copy to re-read.

Hannibal Origins

Strange way to end a series but a great story all the same I recommend

great story but crappy recording

enjoyed the back story but the recording had a multitude of blank spaces. that part sucked

For me, narration underscores the tone

This book chronicles the formative experiences in Hannibal Lecter’s childhood, taking the reader through Lecter’s late teenage years. Having read and listened to Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal and enjoying all three, I was eager to hear this one.
I don’t share the view of many reviewers who state that Thomas Harris is not a good narrator. For me, his accent and the way he reads the text enhance the tone of the story; Harris’s subtle narration guides the listener into the depths of a soul as it begins to freeze and carries us out so calmly we hardly notice the ground is solid a moment after we emerge.

Hannibal Rising

Hannibal Rising is another Masterpiece by Thomas Harris. It takes a step back in time to the young Hannibal before he became the insane Genius of his adult years.

This book was the last in the line of the Hannibal Lecter series. But in chronological order, it should have been the first. It makes one wonder if Thomas Harris had this entire book in the back of his mind, or should I say his Mind Palace, when he wrote the first four books of the Hannibal Lecter series.