Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Barely a year after his death in November, 2008, fans of Michael Crichton received a most unexpected gift: an adventure novel entitled Pirate Latitudes. The completed manuscript for Pirate Latitudes was found on Mr. Crichton’s computer by an assistant and published on November 24, 2009 by HarperCollins.

There seems to be some debate as to when the book was actually written and why it wasn’t published earlier. According to Wikipedia, “sources close to Crichton have revealed that the manuscript for Pirate Latitudes was first written back in the mid- to late-1990's. It was even considered to be the basis for a videogame to be developed by his now-defunct game development company …” Other opinions hold that Crichton never intended to publish this book and may have written it just for fun.

Whatever the case, Pirate Latitudes does seem to be a departure from Crichton’s customary writing style; lacking the abundance of scientific and technical information he is widely known for. (Thankfully, it also lacks the prevalence of a specific four letter word that has peppered his more recent releases.) The book is, however, replete with historical information that has the air of authenticity common to Crichton’s work.

Set in the 17th Century Jamaican colony of Port Royal, and proximal Caribbean environs, Pirate Latitudes transports the reader into a world almost unfathomable in the context of modern sensibilities; a world portrayed so well by the author that I could almost smell the smells … especially when a reluctant seaman chucks the chamber pot from his room at Captain Hunter!

I should probably include a disclaimer here. What Pirate Latitudes lacks in vulgar language is more than compensated for by the vulgar habits and living conditions of the primary characters—all of which would be more than a little gross and disgusting were it not for the historical context. I must also confess that I understood few of the nautical and sea faring terms used in the text - but they sounded legit.

Latitudes is a pirate’s tale par excellence! I found myself almost giddy with delight as I read. This not a scholarly treatise on piracy in the 1600’s or a documentary on colonization of the New World, as might be expected from Michael Crichton, but rather a good old swashbuckling adventure that he probably did write just for fun. I certainly had fun reading Pirate Latitudes—and only wish Mr. Crichton was still around to give us more.