Silence of The Lambs / Red Dragon

I’ve finished reading both of these and I’ve been thinking…are these novels supposed to center around Hannibal Lecter?
It seems to me that he actually has very little to do with the plot in both of these as it seems all he does is act as an FBI consultant.
Also does anyone know if Hannibal (the film) was actually a book or not?

Yes, it was. Same author, too. I found it the weakest in the series, personally.

The big problem with “Hannibal” is the ending. Of course, the author himself has said that the ending of that book sucked, and that he liked the movie ending better.

Yeah, and to me, the ending is the most important part of a book, so… yeah… they’re all pretty good, though.

Yeah, the movie Hannibal far outweighed the book. Haven’t read/watched Red Dragon, yet. Havesn’t seen Manhunter yet, either.