I admit Michael Crichton is my favourite writer. It’s a shame that he has passed away. I simply love his books.
However, when “Pirate Latitudes” first came out I was not entirely convinced if this would be the type of book I would want to read. A book about pirates? Now come on, in the past few years we’ve been bombarded with Pirates. In nowadays, when you think of Pirates, you think of Pirates of the Caribbean with Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Hector Barbossa, Will Turner and the rest of the gang.
Having this in mind I wasn’t sure if Michael Crichton would be able to bring something new to the subject and captivate my attention and most of all, my imagination!
Oh, I was wrong! I was so, so wrong! After reading “Pirates Latitude” when I now think of Pirates, I still think of Jack Sparrow, but I also think of Captain Hunter, Lazue, Sanson, the Moor…
“Pirates Latitude” is a fantastic book! Michael Crichton as always, is able to take your mind to the worlds he imagined, and this time, the world was swarming with pirates!
A must buy book! Definitely!
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Story
Pirate Latitudes takes the reader back to 1665, when Charles II’s Jamaican colony is under serious threat, besieged on every side by the voracious Spanish empire. At the centre of this troubled outpost is its crowded capital, Port Royal, a lively (if festering) hangout for criminal dregs, who inhabit its taverns and brothels. This is the time of the privateer, when (with tacit royal sanction), ship’s captains could make sorties against Spanish ships and outposts, plundering at will — just so long as the Governor and King Charles are taken care of. Michael Crichton’s protagonist in this colourful mix is Captain Charles Hunter, educated at Harvard and a man with keenly developed survival instincts. He is made aware a treasure galleon, which is at anchor in the heavily fortified Spanish island of Matanceros, and Hunter’s interest is piqued — not least because this means he will be able to take on Philip of Spain’s most ruthless enforcer, Cazalla. The stage is set for what will either be a glorious bit of naval smash-and-grab or that will end in the ignominious death of Charles Hunter and his motley crew.
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