This book comes with a mixed review. The reason I say that is because Pirate Latitudes was an unpublished work by Mr. Crichton and was only published after his death. So it is very difficult to know how much of the story was left unfinished---so we'll go with what we have. The book centers around a privateer named Charles Hunter who plans an attack on a Spanish Island controlled by King Philip in the Jamaican harbor of Matanceros. The book starts slow, but it doesn't take long for Mr. Crichton to completely reel in the reader--and once hooked it is impossible to put down. But there does seem to be something missing. It lacks the levels of suspense we have grown accustomed to from Michael Crichton, and maybe there was a reason he never submitted it for publication. It reads more like a movie script than a classic Crichton novel. The pirate talk is abundant and the tale action-packed with plenty of plundering, snakes, poison darts, inclement weather, busty maidens, corrupt officials, and backstabbing. All this with a twist most won't see coming makes Pirate Latitudes a much better film than it will a novel. Which leaves me to wonder what this book could have been if Mr. Crichton actually finished it. I love Mr. Crichton's works, but if it is suspense and bewilderment you're looking for I'd recommend sticking with the classics like Mary Stewart's "The Crystal Cave" or even some of Crichton's earlier works.
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It's impossible to know whether Crichton intended this book to be published, or if he wrote it for fun. Considering it was written in 2006, and discovered on his hard drive after his death, it feels like maybe he wasn't rushing it off to his agent for publication.
It's not Crichton in peak form, that's for sure.
While the book is entertaining enough, it's missing what I love most about Crichton ... the research, the education, the intense build of excitement. It's a pirate story, and not a particularly original one ... It's got your storms, your cannibals, your sea monsters, and general pirate treachery. The first half of the book I felt it was unforgivable that they decided to publish this. But the second half was fun enough that I can see it, and of course Spielberg is already working on the movie.
I didn't love it, didn't hate it. I think, had Crichton been ready for publication it would have been better. Less flawed. But it was enjoyable enough, very fast paced and Amazon has a great deal on the hardcover so you almost can't go wrong.
Ebook Link: 648 KB (HTML and LIT formats)
Michael Crichton,Pirate Latitudes-AudioBook,Unabridged (2009)
Pirate Latitudes
by Michael Crichton, 2009
Narrator: John Bedford Lloyd
Harper Collins, 2009
Unabridged, Length: 9 hours and 8 min.
(128kbps)
Pirate Latitudes
by Michael Crichton, 2009
Narrator: John Bedford Lloyd
Harper Collins, 2009
Unabridged, Length: 9 hours and 8 min.
(128kbps)
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