I picked this up at the second hand store. Overall, I have liked Harris's Hannibal Lecter novels, so I figured I would read this one as well. I will admit I was a bit apprehensive given a lot of bad reviews. Most of the reviews I saw were along the lines of "now that we know how Hannibal became what he is, the mystery/mystique is gone." Others griped that revenge did not seem to be that much of a reason to shape the man.

Well, I say that revenge can be a great reason to become a killer. And I think if anyone went through what Hannibal Lecter went through as a child at the end of World War II, they might end up a little "unstable" as well. Having said that, the book is not Harris's finest. The prose is ok, and once Hannibal gets settled, and his enemies reemerge, it is a matter of time before he starts getting rid of them. So,in that sense, it is predictable. But we also get a bit of a glimpse where the sophisticated character gets his high tastes and sense. For me, I found interesting how the memory palace begins to take shape. Makes me wish I could build my own memory palace sometimes. So, not the greatest novel of this series, but it is readable.