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Pirate Latitudes  By  cover art

Pirate Latitudes

By: Michael Crichton
Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
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Publisher's summary

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.

The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses. In this steamy climate, there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease - or by dagger.

For 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. Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor. Heavily fortified, the impregnable harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of the Spanish king himself. 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. 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....

Pirate Latitudes is Michael Crichton at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense.

©2009 Michael Crichton (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Pirate Latitudes

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Cheesiest book of all time

I don't know if this book qualifies as the cheesiest book of all time, but it certainly is the cheesiest book written by a "best selling author". It seems I only review books I dislike, but this book really pissed me off (sorry). "Cheesy"says it all.

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112 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Silly Sea Monster Spoils Poor Pirate Tale

Poorly developed characters plague this pitiful pirate (privateer) tale, each possessing some super-human characteristic to compensate for their otherwise flat contributions to the story. The protagonist, a combination of James Bond and Spiderman, does the impossible so many times that the reader starts to wonder if the text is more science fiction fantasy than pirate story. Huge gaps during action sequences leave the listener saying, "Hey what about...?

The book quickly withers from the unbelievable to the ridiculous when a sea monster attacks the ship of misfit anti-heroes. This event is so silly that an otherwise passable book is ruined for the sake of a few readers who expect Crichton to instill weird critters in his stories.

Don't waste your credit...

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

What was that?

What would have made Pirate Latitudes better?

The story was disjointed and campy. My guess was an outline was created with maybe 12-15 points and everything else was fluff to get to the points - and then they were quickly and predictidly run through. This book should just not have been published.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I have a number of backlogged books. I will probably listen to The Periodic Table next.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was pretty disappointed with this book. To this point I have like Michael Crichton novels, but clearly this was completely out of his realm.

Any additional comments?

I would advise skipping this novel. It was just poorly written.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Perhaps An Early Work?

There's been speculation that Crichton didn't write this book himself, since it was published posthumously. I think he did write the book, but perhaps it was an early work that he forgot about, or wanted to edit.

Overall, it's an enjoyable yarn. It's strictly entertainment. Crichton isn't known for character development, and that holds true in Pirate Latitudes. It's a good story though, and in true Crichton style moves quickly, with lots of twists and turns and much peril for the main characters.

The narrator does a yeoman like job, neither the best nor the worst I've ever heard. His skill is sufficient to distinguish the characters, and keep the story moving.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

Five stars! Sit back and enjoy! I absolutely loved the book, portraying life of privateers in 17th Century Caribbean. If you liked Timeline (the book,) I am very confident you will love this!

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

How the mighty have fallen

I find it difficult to imagine that Michael Crichton really wrote this book. The characters seem to have stepped from a comic book; the plot from a radio serial of the 50's and the narrator, while very fine in some of his work, should have stayed away from trying the "languid British aristocracy" style. Very few choices from Audible have disappointed me. This one joins the short list.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This is a good book!

From the words of a review before this it seem's some may not know that Michael Crichton died from cancer over a year ago and this was found in His files! Anyway on to the review! The story is on a diffarant road than His other work that I have read and much less technical and more towards entertainment although it is a very good story with a touch of fantasy mixed in!
It is a bit bloody at times and the main character is just as bloody as most others in it. If You are looking for His typical book that teaches You alot of information about the subject then You will instead be treated to a fun and bloody pirate tale! I really liked it but it was not quite on par with the great pirate book "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers, But which book's are! Nevertheless It is a keeper!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Don't bother.

A major disappointment on all sides. Especially the reader. Didn't even finish it. And I love Michael Crichton.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

There were no characters in this book that I cared about and the story didn't have any threads that pulled me forward. The narration was also flat. I was expecting a sweeping tale with a lead character that had panache and style - needless to say, my expectation wasn't met. I listened to the end only because I kept hoping against hope that the book would redeem itself. Don't waste your time, your money or your book credits.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Waste of time

I have enjoyed many of Michael's books, but I understand why this was left unpublished on a disk drive. This should have never been published using his name to sell this rag. What a joke of foolish situations and constant ridiculous happenings. I had to finish just to see how many more absurd things could happen. I wasn't dissapointed.. It kept getting worse.

Stay away.. the Kracken might get you.

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13 people found this helpful