He bets every inside straight and always fills it.Īll the other 'characters' look exactly as you imagine they would, because they're all minimally described, and they behave exactly and only as the plot requires. His sole drive is to be the most successful pirate in the world, and it won't be a problem. Hunter is a 17th-century version of Richard Stark's famous 20th-century anti-character, Parker - only handsomer, and much stupider. He has no emotions, no sex drive, no sense of humour, no sensual pleasures, no habits or hobbies or hopes or human flaws of any kind. However you imagine a handsome pirate looks, that's how he looks. Why did he become a pirate? Because Crichton required one. Every plan he makes is based on the assumption that he can't lose.

The hero is a suicidally stupid but unbelievably lucky pirate, Captain Charles Hunter. And you'll need to relax your suspension of disbelief to the point where you should avoid accidental exposure to Glenn Beck while reading it. But you'll have to do nearly all the work yourself. It's certainly possible to imagine a novel or film while reading Pirate Latitudes is Michael Crichton at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense.Yet it is selling like crazy, critics have anointed it, readers are unanimously raving about it on, and Stephen Spielberg has committed to film it. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of island legend, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he even sets foot on foreign shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure. With backing from a powerful ally, Hunter assembles a crew of ruffians to infiltrate the enemy outpost and commandeer El Trinidad, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. Heavily fortified, the impregnable harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of the Spanish king himself. Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor. In this steamy climate, there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease - or by dagger.įor Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. From one of the best-loved authors of all time comes an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates in the New World, a classic story of treasure and betrayal.

Pirate latitudes a novel