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adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to say that this is terrible. My two star rating is actually quite generous. I haven't enjoyed this book at all.
The plot was weak, disjointed and frankly uninteresting. None of the characters were really developed and as soon as I learnt someone's name they seemed to get killed. Other characters were clichéd stereotypes with no redeeming qualities.
There was an almost total absence of suspense which is a prerequisite for a thriller surely. Some of the scenes were distasteful and downright unpleasant. I'm not a stranger to this author's work and am not squeamish but in previous novels such scenes have added to the narrative or character development. Here they are just gratuitous and off putting.
Overall terribly disappointing as his first three novels were brilliant. In my opinion the next two were cash ins on his wonderful and infamous creation. This one utter crap.
It has been 13 years since Thomas Harris' last novel. On the back of this outing, another 13 years will still be too soon.
The plot was weak, disjointed and frankly uninteresting. None of the characters were really developed and as soon as I learnt someone's name they seemed to get killed. Other characters were clichéd stereotypes with no redeeming qualities.
There was an almost total absence of suspense which is a prerequisite for a thriller surely. Some of the scenes were distasteful and downright unpleasant. I'm not a stranger to this author's work and am not squeamish but in previous novels such scenes have added to the narrative or character development. Here they are just gratuitous and off putting.
Overall terribly disappointing as his first three novels were brilliant. In my opinion the next two were cash ins on his wonderful and infamous creation. This one utter crap.
It has been 13 years since Thomas Harris' last novel. On the back of this outing, another 13 years will still be too soon.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Big turd-pile.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The long-awaited return of the "master". Well, in the last 13 years, the master should have practiced his craft.
It's tough to believe that someone who wrote Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal wrote this book.
It's tough to believe that someone who wrote Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal wrote this book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had high hopes for this one and was majorly let down. SO MUCH backstory for minor characters and the description of guns and ammunition was used in a way that make it feel like Harris was just trying to reach a word count. The only chapter worth reading is the description of the captive professor's time with Cari.
Also, what was the point of the never-ending chapter describing marketing for Don Ernesto's escargot business? I understand he's a seedy business man but no book in the Hannibal collection had such useless descriptions of activities with no tie to the plot. I could list characters unnecessary to the progression of the plot but the character count would exceed the limit of what GoodReads would allow me to write (note that GoodReads doesn't have a character limit...). The only reason I dragged through the book was because the 241 page length seemed like it would pass quickly - unfortunately it took longer to get through this than it took to finish the entire Hannibal collection.
Also, what was the point of the never-ending chapter describing marketing for Don Ernesto's escargot business? I understand he's a seedy business man but no book in the Hannibal collection had such useless descriptions of activities with no tie to the plot. I could list characters unnecessary to the progression of the plot but the character count would exceed the limit of what GoodReads would allow me to write (note that GoodReads doesn't have a character limit...). The only reason I dragged through the book was because the 241 page length seemed like it would pass quickly - unfortunately it took longer to get through this than it took to finish the entire Hannibal collection.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Short.
Has potential.
Hits a few interesting issues.
Has potential.
Hits a few interesting issues.
This book is unfortunately disappointing. Coming from someone with Harris's pedigree and after such a long break this is something of a doa. Given the long break before this book, this is a chance to see if all his skills were ruined by the last two Hannibal books
Harris uses several techniques he's used before, a history told in parts and flashbacks, lots of narration from a clearly evil character, a crime story with little police involved, and those only seeing the edges of this, but here these all feel a little... flat.
We start here with Hams-Peter, and within 10 pages he's already openly talking about abducting and killing someone purely for her looks. He comes off as an attempt to make a Hannibal for this book, but here he's too strong in the villainy, and consistent with it, and comes off looking cartoonish.
Secondly comes the other main character, Cari. She's beautiful, confident, dangerous and loving of animals and those she knows. At times she comes off as over perfect, but her quietness and self reflection fight against this admirably. Her past here could reasonably explain a lot of her personality, flaws included, which is nice to see.
The central question here, is who will get some of Pablo Escobar's gold, and how. The back and forward, plot and counter plot is engaging, and the action scenes both fast and bloody, showing Harris's experience here, especially his time in films.
If you've not read Harris before, this isn't worth your time. Instead pick up any of his first 3 books, those are much better and unarguably worth the time they take. If you've read his other works, this is just about worth the effort, although it does feel like watching a world class athlete warming up. I can only hope that's what this book represents, and that we'll see Harris back soon with something better.
Harris uses several techniques he's used before, a history told in parts and flashbacks, lots of narration from a clearly evil character, a crime story with little police involved, and those only seeing the edges of this, but here these all feel a little... flat.
We start here with Hams-Peter, and within 10 pages he's already openly talking about abducting and killing someone purely for her looks. He comes off as an attempt to make a Hannibal for this book, but here he's too strong in the villainy, and consistent with it, and comes off looking cartoonish.
Secondly comes the other main character, Cari. She's beautiful, confident, dangerous and loving of animals and those she knows. At times she comes off as over perfect, but her quietness and self reflection fight against this admirably. Her past here could reasonably explain a lot of her personality, flaws included, which is nice to see.
The central question here, is who will get some of Pablo Escobar's gold, and how. The back and forward, plot and counter plot is engaging, and the action scenes both fast and bloody, showing Harris's experience here, especially his time in films.
If you've not read Harris before, this isn't worth your time. Instead pick up any of his first 3 books, those are much better and unarguably worth the time they take. If you've read his other works, this is just about worth the effort, although it does feel like watching a world class athlete warming up. I can only hope that's what this book represents, and that we'll see Harris back soon with something better.