Pirate Latitudes: A Novel

I miss Michael Crichton already and was so glad this book was found and published. It's probably not what you're used to when it comes to his medical/ethics thrillers, but can probably be categorized as historical fiction.

He sets the story in 17th century Port Royal, Jamaica, home to all the shady pirates and privateers of the Caribbean. A motley band of pirates head out to storm a Spanish fortress in the Caribbean and capture a ship of Spanish gold. Of course things go amiss and the resulting adventure is a sound one.

The characters are engaging and the plot is tight. This wasn't meant to be "deep" reading, instead it's a fun romp with enough period detail to make you feel as if you're right there with them....personally, I didn't put it down until I turned the last page. It was a fun read and makes me realize how much I'm going to miss this author.

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.

Michael Crichton's "Pirate Latitudes" is everything you're looking for in a pirate adventure. It doesn't necessarily do anything new with the genre, but it will satisfy those who found the popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" films too over-the-top and cartoony.

This (relatively short) novel tells the story of pirate (he prefers "privateer") Charles Hunter and his crew of super-pirates as they embark on a quest for the ultimate prize-- a Spanish treasure galleon. I say "super-pirates" because each of his crew does one or two things extraordinarily well, creating a sort of "who's who" of pirate archetypes. You have the stealth assassin, Sanson, who kills entire ship crews without making a sound. Then there is Bassa, the giant Moor who seems inspired by Fezzik from "The Princess Bride" and who kills with his bare hands. There is Lazue, the quintessential female pirate, who goes about as a man unless it suits her to use her feminine attributes and whose eyes are capable of spotting even the most camouflaged of reefs. There is Enders, the dependable helmsman, who can sail even the bulkiest of ships through the eye of a needle. And finally Don Diego aka "The Jew", the crafty munitions expert, who does something with rat innards you will not believe.

Other pirate tale staples appear as well: cannibals, damsels in distress, storms at sea, and sea monsters. The inclusion of the sea monster surprised me, given Crichton's realistic account of 17th century pirate life up to that point. While my initial reaction was to scoff, I soon found myself going with the idea. Crichton was a man of science, and you get the impression that he is acknowledging the possibility that perhaps the strange stories of sea monsters told by the old seafarers of the past may have had some truth to them. I won't go into too much detail about the monster, but its presence in the story is handled well. The sea monster scene is not particularly original, but it's hard not to smile while reading it. Yes, we've seen it before, but it's still fun to go over again with a new set of characters and circumstances.

"Pirate Latitudes" doesn't really hit its stride until about halfway through. From there on it is difficult to put down. The publisher's description of the book is incomplete (probably intentionally so). Yes, Captain Hunter and his motley crew are indeed embarking on a dangerous mission to cut out a Spanish treasure galleon from a nigh unconquerable port, but that is only half the story. I will not give away any more, but will instead allow you to discover the rest for yourself as I did.

As you read though the novel, you get the impression that this was something Crichton was writing merely for his own enjoyment. It was well-publicized that the completed manuscript was discovered after the author's death. We'll never know what he intended to do with it. Perhaps he never intended to publish it at all. While this may sound ludicrous to non-writers, I suspect this is the case. Many prolific authors have completed manuscripts tucked away that they wrote just for the pleasure of writing, and "Pirate Latitudes" seems to be one of those. Perhaps it was something he picked away at while trying to stave off writer's block for something else he was working on. Even if this novel was never intended to see the light of day, I am glad his family decided to go ahead and let us have a look at it.

"Pirate Latitudes" delivers everything you'd ever want from a pirate story, and also gives a fairly accurate historical portrayal of 17th century pirates, particularly the violent lives they lead. This book will likely not receive any awards, nor will it impress many literary critics, but it is not attempting to do so. It is well-worth reading if you enjoy fast-paced action adventure, particularly of the cutlass-wielding, piratey variety.

I'm guessing that Michael Crichton never knew what a gift "Pirates Latitude" would be. We've all enjoyed his gifts before. Personally, I admired "Great Train Robbery" and "Eaters of the Dead" for historical fictions with great accuracy; "Sphere" and "Terminal Man" for their terrifying glimpses into the human mind; "Jurassic Park" for a better understanding of the genetic age we are entering; "State of Fear" for calling the media, junk science and popular causes out on the carpet.

I've seen others criticize this book for not having that typical "Crichton feel", and on some levels, I would agree. Had Crichton only written books like "Pirates Latitude" he would never have become one of the world's most popular writers. People fell in love with Crichton for his attention to detail, for his insistence that facts and
truth be presented as nothing other than what they are. Had cancer not robbed him of a chance to see "Pirates Latitude" published, I believe Crichton would have done what he does best. He would have added that detail, thus robbing us of this final gift. This bare-bones manuscript is a testimony to something I took for granted: details, facts, figures, and ethics aside, Crichton was an extraordinary writer! It's a great story: funny, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, fast-paced and brash in one paragraph, quiet and elegant in the next. And unless by some fate there is another desk with a manuscript to be discovered, it is the last work of his I will read anew. I will miss
him.

Sorry for turning this into a Eulogy of sorts...but since I've already crossed that line, I think I'll close with a quote from "The Lost World": "You smell the salt in the air? You feel the sunlight on your skin? You see all of us together? That's real. Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn't really anything else." Rest well, Mr. Crichton. You've earned it.

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.