Michael Crichton is one of my favorite authors. His line of books include: "Jurassic Park," "The Lost World," " Congo," "Timeline," "Sphere," "Eaters of the Dead and State of Fear." He also wrote the screenplay for the 1996 disaster thriller, "Twister," and created my favorite TV show, "ER." After his untimely death in 2008, a bunch of manuscripts were discovered on Crichton's computer, and Pirate Latitudes was one of them.
"Pirate Latitudes" is a historical fiction novel set in the 17th Century, Caribbean Islands. Just like the title it was about the pirate activity at the time. The book has been compared to the Pirates of The Caribbean, but unlike the movies, "Pirate Latitudes" doesn't shy away from the darker aspects at the time. Murder, betrayal, political corruption, disease, sex and rape all appear within the pages of the book. The story begins with Governor Sir James Almont, who hires a privateer, Captain Richard Hunter. He tasks Hunter with raiding a fortress island called Matanceros, which is controlled by the evil Spanish Captain Cazalla, who murdered Hunter's brother years before. It is believed that a Spanish Galleon loaded down with treasure is docked within the bay of the fortress. However, several attempts were made on raiding the fortress, all resulting in failure and severe casualties. Knowing Hunter as a skilled privateer, Sir Almont can trust that Hunter can lead a victorious raid. Hunter isn't alone with this, as he puts together a skilled crew as well. Many of the members bring amazing skill to the crew's mission; Don Diego is an expert at explosives, and proves to be very innovative when crafting explosive arsenal for Hunter. Lazue acts as the crew's marksman, with incredible eyesight and a few more surprises to boot. Enders is the ships helmsman, who is so gifted at navigating he's called a sea artist. Basa, also known as the Moor, is a big mute man with incredible strength. And finally Samson, who is a cunning assassin and buds heads with Hunter a few times. Throughout the book, we get embellishments of the characters and the skills they bring to the table. We watch how they interact, how they fight, and how their skills are vital to every situation they come across. Their are a few moments they seem to be too perfect of characters, but they are so small its forgivable.
Another thing I liked about the book was the authenticity of the world. You really get the feeling you are looking at the world through 400 year old eyes. Michael Crichton tends to put a lot of research into his novels to maintain accuracy. This allows the reader to experience someone of an education in a certain theme or topic, and Crichton gives a very accurate description of culture, politics and technology. So you can expect to learn something from reading this book.
The book did have one flaw. The pacing. I had no problem with the first half of the book. It was all focused on the raid of Matanceros, but after that, the book follows the crew's journey home, back to Port Royal, where they go on a lot of misadventures. Don't get me wrong, they were very interesting, but they were so loosely put together they acted more as short stories rather than parts of the book. Granted, it does improve near the end, but the rushed nature of it was initially distracting. I would love to go into more details, but that would require spoilers.
The book was fast paced, presented many ideas and concepts, and packed with action that will keep you turning the page. The book is pretty good!!! I enjoyed it for one.
But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? If not, do you want to read it now? Comment below and stay tuned for more!
