Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Hannibal Rising

By: Thomas Harris
Narrated by: Thomas Harris
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.38

Buy for $14.38

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

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)

Featured Article: Audible Essentials—The Top 100 Screen Adaptations of All Time


As the category of great page-to-screen storytelling continues to grow, we scoured our libraries, grilled audiophiles and cinephiles, and vetted the entire Audible catalog for the 100 greatest screen adaptations for watchers and listeners alike. These are the stories that inspired some of the greatest on-screen stories of all time, from Academy Award winners and cult classics to must-see TV. They're well worth the price of admission.

What listeners say about Hannibal Rising

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,213
  • 4 Stars
    533
  • 3 Stars
    298
  • 2 Stars
    109
  • 1 Stars
    43
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,015
  • 4 Stars
    354
  • 3 Stars
    175
  • 2 Stars
    51
  • 1 Stars
    37
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,004
  • 4 Stars
    339
  • 3 Stars
    201
  • 2 Stars
    56
  • 1 Stars
    29

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

I liked the idea of hearing about what made Hannibal the sociopath, it was interesting how Thomas Harris portrayed him as a severely damaged child. The book was a bit disjointed, and it was difficult sometimes to keep track of all the names (being a visual person, I have a much easier time reading when there are lots of characters). The one major downfall was actually the narrator, and while I know it was the author himself, his southern accent really threw me off when I was trying to get into a Eastern European story, and his French and German accents were even more distracting. I appreciate his involvement, but I think another narrator would have served better. It is a good book, however, and I recommend it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Revenge the motive?

Revenge for WWII war crimes. That's how it all began. Everything that happens in this book happens for that reason. But his exploits in the other movies and books go far beyond anythng that could be related to WWII.

I selected this book because of curiosity and I'm still curious. I agree that the choice of narrator was not the best but it's always interesting to see how a writer tells his or her own story. Harris is better than some in that regard even though the accents are off somewhat.

I found it difficult to follow some of the time changes from chapter to chapter. Sometimes they were minutes. Sometimes they were years.

I listen o audiobooks while I walk so it helped fill some time. It hasn't stimulated any great desire to explore this character any further even though I'm sure a movie will follow. Perhaps a movie will be more compelling than the listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Better than the others

This book wasn't great but then again it was definitely better than the other two books that were published following the original.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Series -- Outside of Sherlock Hol.es

I decided to venture into the Hannibal series because my GSDs are named after the main characters (thank my husband). I've never seen the movies because I've never been a fan of suspense/thriller movies, but thought I might enjoy the books. This series has become my absolute favorite series I have ever read (or in this case listened to).
Hannibal Rising was heartbreaking to me. I teared up multiple times experiencing Hannibal's beginnings. I hope one day we'll see more of Hannibal's rise to infamy. I enjoyed learning that my preconceived notions that Hannibal is only a bad guy cannibal was wrong. He is insanely meticulous & observant. I was very sad to see the end of this series & it will be one that I revisit many times.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent!!

this is phenomenally written. well thought out and meticulous. I see why now... Hannibal became so he is and was

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Exactly Like Movie

Great narrator. Alot more poetry than expected. Not as much insight into the mind. I assumed the prequel would do this. Other wise decent book, with historical moments woven in!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

eh

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

not boring

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!