This posthumously published Michael Crichton book seems very unlike his other work. It is a straight forward pirate adventure tale and does not seem interested in instructing the reader. I've read a fair number of his books and his villains are typically shallow and underdeveloped, his heroes are often similarly two-dimensional, but his storylines are often complex but rarely fully-developed. Most of that is true here as well. It is possible that, were I not already quite familiar with the region and the period, the book would seem more educational. He does touch on a lot of facets of the period in a fairly short novel. Where Timeline and Sphere felt like science lectures, Pirate Latitudes was more of a refresher.
The story opens at the governor's mansion in Port Royal, Jamaica. Governor Almont has a busy day ahead of him. In a chance conversation, he learns of a Spanish treasure ship that did not make the voyage across the Atlantic with the rest of the Spanish fleet. Opportunity! At this point, the story shifts to Captain Charles Hunter, a privateer on good terms with the governor. Hunter goes in search of the perfect crew to accomplish an impossible task. It seems rather like the Dirty Dozen which then transitions to the Guns of Navarone. Oddly, getting the treasure is not the finish. No, now it becomes The Odyssey as Hunter must return to Port Royal, overcoming treachery, a hurricane, a pursuing Spanish galleon, and cannibals.
Though sometimes outlandish, it is a fun read.
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