Port Royal, Jamaica is the lone English stronghold in all of the Caribbean. Its governor is a fat old corrupt colonial politician who manages to retain a tenth (at least) of all prize money that is stolen from the Spanish. He commissions local seafaring gentleman to go on logging expeditions that are really expeditions of piracy against the Spanish in search of gold and silver for England and incidentally for the governor.
In this adventure the Spanish have recently anchored a galleon in the bay at their impregnable fortress at Matanceros. This island has a protected harbor at the mouth of which the Spanish have constructed a fortress with 12 cannon to protect the entrance. Sheer cliffs over 400 feet high rise out of the Caribbean on all sides preventing any attack from land. And yet, the intrepid privateer from Jamaica, Captain Hunter assails this fortress from these cliffs and manages to destroy the place blowing up all the cannons and the armory, killing the ruthless Spanish ruler of the island and capturing the galleon with all its gold and silver.
Captain Hunter makes away from the island only to be assailed by a huge Spanish warship vastly outgunning his captured Galleon. Hunter cleverly outsmarts the captain of the galleon and escapes but is overtaken by a furious hurricane. After the hurricane you would think Hunter would be free but he finds himself on a desert island where he must make repairs to his ship in order to continue and the island is inhabited by cannibals who attack and murder some of his crew before he can escape.
But this is not the end of his adventure. He gets out to sea on his way back to Port Royal and is attacked by a giant Squid. Hunter and his crew barely defeat this Denison of the deep and finally make it back to Port Royal.
But the adventure is not over. On Hunter’s return he is arrested as a pirate, quickly tried and sentenced to hang. Through the help of a beautiful young woman that had been befriended by the governor, now overthrown by his assistant, Hunter escapes and hunts down all the men who turned against him. He kills all and in the end clears his name and makes his fortune.
A rollicking, swashbuckling adventure that is worthy of Crichton’s skills this pirate thriller earns an 8 of 10 on the Weaver meter.
