Tuesday Tomorrow
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: November 24th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy
The official patter:
"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."So, despite being surrounded by friends who dislike him, I must proudly say, I love Michael Crichton! He is one of the reasons I became such a bibliomanic... instantly devouring his whole back catalog once I was able to find all the books (Electronic Life being the one that was elusive for so long, but an old computer manual does not a trilling book make). Anyway, this book was found on his computer after his sudden death from Cancer. No one knows when it was written, but I don't care really! It's a new Crichton novel when I thought I'd never get another. Even if it's not his best it will make me fondly recall all the wonderful hours spent reading his books. Sure I haven't really loved a book of his since Prey, but when this man was on, he was on! So, in anticipation of cracking open the spine of his latest novel I bring you my favorite of his books:
5) The Lost World - Any book that starts out with the line from The Princess Bride: "He was only mostly dead" is wonderfully amusing to me. Plus, Michael wrote this for Spielberg to make a sequel for the successful Jurassic Park, and then what does Spielberg do? Not use the book at all and make a total piece of crap. Dinosaurs on the mainland? Youngish overly athletic adopted daughters? Total BS! Plus the forced watching of this by Amtrak as the only other form of entertainment besides Leave it to Beaver, the edited version, makes my blood boil! Yes it's been over ten years... guess what? Still bitter! Also I'm now oddly concerned that my computer has a secret agenda... why is Spielberg in the spellcheck?
4) Sphere - Creepy under water dealings with possible aliens, will keep you up late into the night to see what is going on. The movie did not do it justice.
3) Congo - Wonderfully creepy African adventure, which again was destroyed by filmmakers. Once Jurassic Park was a hit, every Crichton book was pulled off the shelf and given a make over in film, and most were horrendous. This I think was the worst. They took a logical scenario, of an ape who can learn sign language and her interpreter and made the interpreter her nanny and had her have a speaking glove! "Amy sad, Amy, Amy, crap!" (Say it in a bad femalish/childlike computer voice).
2) Travels - This non fiction book is fascinating. The best part in my mind though is his description of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, it inspired me to maybe one day do the same. To see the curve of the Earth from solid ground, just awe inspiring.
1) The Great Train Robbery - His best movie AND book! Well, he did adapt the book himself, so no surprise there that it was therefore good. The book is just a fascinating portal into Victorian England and just an amazingly detailed plotting of a heist. Plus, awesome movie with Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down. Makes all other movie heists pale in comparison!
Kudos on this post! I agree and in fact will be posting about it and a giveaway very soon....I too loved the writer and his work!
Bingo said... November 23, 2009 at 11:08 AM
I will definitely be stopping by!
Miss Eliza said... November 23, 2009 at 3:03 PM
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