A short review I read in some newspaper two weeks ago, described his role in "Red Dragon" as a minor side-act. What bullshit! The coverage given to Lecter may have been less in "Red Dragon" than in the other two books, but the reason the book works is because of the way he is interwoven into the chase between Will Graham and Francis Dolarhyde. Graham is the person he is, because of Lecter. It was Lecter's capture some years ago, which made Graham understand the fine line which separated his mind from that of a psychopath's. It is this ability to think like a serial-killer and to predict their psychopathic behaviour pattern, that allowed him to catch Lecter in the first place and then leads him to Dolarhyde. And Lecter helps. Graham does not feature in "Silence..." and "Hannibal", except as a passing remark.

Unfortunately, for me, Lecter is indistinguishable from the Anthony Hopkins persona (from "Silence of the Lambs", the movie), which I suspect is a factor that has also affected Harris during the writing of "Hannibal". Each time I try to visualize Lecter, I see Hopkins. And it is probably this humanization that has made Harris convert a soulless, conscienceless man into a more human individual. In the first two books, Lecter is chilling, simply because he is who he is - pure evil, or as the gypsy in "Hannibal" calls him, "shaitaan" (meaning monster in Hindi). In "Hannibal" however, he now has a background which tries to partly explain to us why he is what he is - this gets our sympathy (I was actually rooting for him at the end) and that is probably the ultimate failure of "Hannibal". The monster is no longer a monster, just a misunderstood, "poor-guy", who eventually gets the heroine. The "shaitaan" is now a mere "aadmi" (man), just more intelligent, "classier" and "superior" to most of us. Lecter, in "Hannibal" almost inspires us to want to be like him with his finer tastes - this characterization completely overshadows his dark persona, which was the captivating feature in the first two books.

The books are gloomy - the first two deal with serial murderers, exploring the extreme depths of twisted and warped minds, and the third is a complex interplay between a "whimsical" murderer and his victim-turned killer. Both "Red Dragon" and "Silence...", have similar plots. They start with one or two killings, the eventual captor is introduced (Graham in "Red Dragon" and Clarice Starling in "Silence..."), the investigative methods are described in detail, halfway through the killer is introduced and eventually by a combination of serendipity and hard work, the killer is caught. In both books, Lecter's insights into the behavior of serial killers help both Graham and Starling, in their quest for the killer - in return they sacrifice a bit of their minds to him. In the third book, Lecter (who is also a serial killer in case we forget) is both, the hunter and the hunted - one of his earlier victims, Mason, first introduced in passing in "Red Dragon", is now out to kill him.

The only other person who has a presence in all the three books is Jack Crawford of the FBI who is responsible for grooming Graham and Starling. In "Hannibal" though, Crawford is in the book probably only for effect and continuity. After the first few pages, I got the impression that Harris didn't quite know what to do with him and so quietly eased him out with just a passing reference to him every few pages. Crawford doesn't do anything in the book and eventually dies - he might as well have not been there.

Lecter in the first two books grows in our minds almost completely through his dialogues with Graham and Starling, especially the ones with Starling. He finds Starling interesting, especially her "Southern white trash" origins, her fixation with her marshal father's death and her grit and determination. Starling gets Jame Gumb in "Silence..." with Lecter's help and a lot of luck. In "Hannibal", she works to track down Lecter (who had escaped in "Silence...") and eventually finds him ironically while trying to save him from a horrible death at Mason's hands.

Starling was played by Jodie Foster in "Silence...". Somehow that association is not as strong as the Hopkins-Lecter persona. Yet if other actors play the two characters in the new movie, I wonder if it will work, especially for those who have read both "Silence..." and "Hannibal" and seen "Silence...".

Red Dragon was published in 1981 and Hannibal in 1999. In these 19 years, Harris has obviously become cynical. In "Red Dragon", the FBI is portrayed as a good, powerful, interesting organization, competent and capable. In "Hannibal", the FBI is portrayed as a good-for-nothing, politically corrupt and inept organization. One reason probably why Lecter actually manages to tug at our emotions may be that the rest of the world is portrayed as such a shitty place to live in anyway, that Lecter's "evilness" does not seem particularly terrifying. This portrayal also lays the background of Starling's behaviour- she is a victim of political maneuvering, denied promotions and the chance to fully utilize her potential.

"Hannibal" also has some obvious discrepancies. It is set seven years after "Silence...", but Crawford ages only three - this I guess was necessary to prevent him from hitting the retirement age, which he otherwise would have in the normal course - considering how peripheral he is to the book, he might as well have been retired. There is another factual error with respect to the name of a previous victim and murder setting.

These factual problems apart, "Hannibal" pales in comparison with the first two books, simply because "Red Dragon" and "Silence..." are better. To add to this were my high expectations - considering that Harris is not a prolific writer (4 books in 26 years) and that there was an eleven-years gap between "Silence..." and "Hannibal". As a stand-alone book though, for a first time read, it is still better than most other airport pick-ups. And, it does appear unlikely considering the end, that there will be a fourth Hannibal book - though if Bobby Ewing could come back from the dead in "Dallas" with an entire season dismissed as a dream, I guess, anything can happen.