read: Pirate Latitudes

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Nothing to see here. Move along. This isn't the pirate book you're looking for. You want action. You want colorful characters. You want thrills and suspense. That's all stuff that Michael Crichton can provide. We've read it and seen it before, in The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, ER, and others. But this book doesn't deliver the same goods.

Instead, we have a bare-bones plot filled with stereotyped characters and pedestrian writing. The entire time I read it, I kept wondering when the wonder would kick in and it never did. I'm convinced that Mr. Crichton never intended for this version to be published and would be sadly disappointed that it was (or as murph wrote on his behalf, "If only I'd have encrypted my hard drive...."). Well researched, but woefully under-executed, you're better off watching Pirates of the Caribbean for the 14th time or reading the non-fiction The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down.

View all my reviews >>