PIRATE LATITUDES

Master storyteller Michael Crichton sustains his reputation posthumously with this seventeenth-century pirate tale of the Caribbean. Swashbuckling Captain Charles Hunter is loafing in Jamaica, enjoying both women and rum, when he's enticed by news of a treasure-laden Spanish galleon moored at another island. John Bedford Lloyd's cool narration is an excellent match to Hunter's bravado in the face of sharks, cannibals, and a bloodthirsty opponent. Lloyd provides a straightforward portrayal of Hunter and shades the rest of the diverse cast—a fingerless Jewish explosives expert, a transvestite sharpshooter, a gargantuan Moor with an amputated tongue, and a kidnapped noble lady who secretly enjoys being ravished by pirates—with a profusion of vocal color. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2010]