Review by New York Times Review
It's 1665 and Capt. Charles Hunter, a Harvard-educated Englishman, has led a daring raid to capture a Spanish treasure galleon in the Caribbean Sea. He has killed several guards, all of whom were sleeping, drunk or inept, and he must now make it back to his ship. He barges into the quarters of his archnemesis - the man who killed Hunter's brother. "He turned to look around the room. This was Cazalla's quarters, richly furnished. A dark-haired girl was in the bed. She looked at him in terror, holding the sheets to her chin, as Hunter dashed through the room to the rear windows. He was halfway out the window when he heard her say, in English, 'Who are you?'" You wouldn't be surprised to hear him respond, "Bond, James Bond." Crichton's last novel, found in his files as a complete manuscript after his death in 2008, is unabashed fun. Hunter and his colorful crew of associates - they have names like Whisper, Black Eye, the Moor - hail from Port Royal, Jamaica, the strongest English settlement in the New World and "not a town where much attention was paid to past histories." Commerce thrives on "privateering" (basically, piracy), which the island governor, Sir James Almont, discreetly encourages. Captain Hunter handles this charge with aplomb - as he does everything that comes his way, including Spanish warships, hurricanes, cannibals and giant squid. Yup, no doldrums here.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [March 28, 2010]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Crichton, who died in 2008, was known primarily for such high-tech thrillers as Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain. This new novel, found in manuscript form among his papers, will come as a bit of a surprise to many of his fans. It is, of all things, a pirate novel. Set in 1665, it tells the story of Captain Charles Hunter, a privateer who's hired by the governor of Jamaica's Port Royal to steal a Spanish galleon and its cargo of gold treasure. Don't expect to see Jack Sparrow in this story of pirates of the Caribbean, though: Crichton doesn't play his pirates for laughs. And this is no typical pirate adventure, either: it's actually a caper novel posing as a high-seas adventure. All the key caper-novel elements are here: the target, the mastermind, the plan, the motley crew, the ruthless villain, the gadgets, the twist, and the turncoat. Crichton keeps us in a constant state of suspense, never revealing quite what his hero, Captain Hunter, has up his sleeve, and the novel ends most unexpectedly. Pirate fans will love the book for its flashy characters and historical authenticity. Crime fans will enjoy the caper-novel structure and the way the author keeps them on their toes. If this really is Crichton's final book, it's a splendid send-off: something new, different, and daring.--Pitt, David Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
