From one of the best-loved authors of all time comes an irresistible adventure of swashbuckingpirates in the New Wolrd, a classic story of treasure and betrayal.

  The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses.

  In this steamy climate there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease-or  by dagger. For Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it.

  Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor. Heavily fortified, the impregnable harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commandeer El Trinidad, along with its fortune in Spainish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of island legend, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he eveen sets foot on foreign shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure...

  Pirate Latitudes is MICHAEL‧ CRICHTON at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense.