Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

I am taking a break from the Twilight books to review a book that I read last week. Michael Crichton's posthumous publication PIRATE LATITUDES. It is said that the novel was found on his computer ready for publication at the time of this death. I have to say that I was satisfied. It is much better than his last two novels, NEXT and STATE OF FEAR. It is a historical thriller, much like his classic THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY. In it, a group of privateers and pirates go on a mission of conquer a Spanish fort, and steal precious booty from a ship that is using the harbor as a safe haven after it got separated from the convoy.

The historical context of the late 1600s doesn't keep Michael from getting a little bit of techno-thriller on us. One character makes primitive forms of grenades. Which is entirely possible, given the materials he had and his knowledge of explosives. Of course these grenades surprise everyone, since most of them have never seen anything like that before. It is a fun story with everything that makes pirate stories great; high seas adventure, island escapades, cannibals, a sea monster, and lesbians. It is quite humorous, and very exciting.

There were times when I had problems with point of view. It seemed to read as 3rd person omniscient, but then I realized that the character who's POV we are currently in would know this information. So it does seem to be 3rd limited after all.

I can't really complain too much about it. It was just a fun adventure. It is a perfect beach read, which makes its late Autumn release a bit sad. Most of the chapters are not very long, which makes it great to pick up and put down--but putting it down would be the hard part.

Each character does have his or her own distinct voice. Of course like most Michael Crichton I wondered where the reality and the fantasy melded. In PIRATE LATITUDES it seems that there was more reality than fantasy.

PIRATE LATITUDES won't take up much of your time. I suggest reading this book, if you are looking for a fun adventure.