arrrg...

Just finished Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes (Book #3, for anyone who's keeping track. Which I guess would be me.). Piracy, debauchery, grossness and adventure! Wenches, cannibals, and sea monsters too! Pretty fun.

Mr. Crichton died of cancer in 2008, and two novels were found in his things, and are to be published posthumously. Pirate Latitudes was one of them (the other will be published this fall). It's fun, suspenseful, scary - I read it quickly and was thoroughly entertained.

While Crichton die-hards (and there are many) lament that the novel does not seem "finished" - pointing to the fact that his novels are usually full of obviously thorough research detail and in-depth detail - but is this not to be expected? The man died unexpectedly - maybe he wasn't quite "finished". But I disagree with the detractors. Granted, I am not a Crichton know-it-all, though I have read several of his novels, but I felt like the story was complete in the end, and as far as detail goes, I learned quite more than I needed to know about the workings of cannons and about how disgusting 17th century Jamaica was.

The book has big movie production written all over it, and, indeed, rumor has it that Steven Spielberg already owns the rights. The book even has a trailer. For the book.