Ebook Pirate Hunters Treasure Obsession and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship Audible Audio Edition Robert Kurson Ray Porter Random House Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 8 hours and 24 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Random House Audio Audible.com Release Date June 16, 2015 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B00UKE5OKW

Pirate Hunters Treasure Obsession and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship Audible Audio Edition Robert Kurson Ray Porter Random House Audio Books Reviews

• This book is engaging, but it's no "Shadow Divers". For one thing, there's not much plot and the author had to sort of create a narrative and stick in bits of Pirate history to glue it all together. Then the two primary personalities come off pretty badly. One is portrayed as crazy-violent, the other as an obsessed ego-maniac. I guess it's all meant to paint a picture, but it's a little too much personal information for me. The book also ends abruptly, with 97% devoted to a fruitless search and 3% a quick summary of what they found.
  
  So although I enjoyed reading it, and made it through to the end. It will not be a keeper and is headed to a used book store shortly.
  
  BTW, if you have not read "Shadow Divers", for Pete's Sake go get a copy now! Now that was an extraordinary tale.
• I read this book after having read Shadow Divers because I enjoy Robert Kurson's writing. This is an easy to read historical account and quiet interesting. However, not nearly as compelling ash Shadow Divers. There is a lot of back story on the main characters; however, the accounting of the actual discovery of the sunken pirate vessel seems almost an afterthought in places. I would have appreciated more about the actual salvage and what they found. The book sort gets to the find, and states "and then they salvaged.. the end" .
  
  In contrast, the background on pirate history was extremely fascinating and caused me to research piracy a bit more and read additional accounts of the 17th century pirates. Overall worth your time, but not as good as Shadow Divers.
• I don't read a lot of nonfiction and when I do I want it to read as smoothly as fiction. This pretty much fit the bill, with an exciting account of seasoned treasure hunters / divers finding a wreck of a fairly obscure merchant-captain-turned-pirate, Joseph Bannister. The author went off on a multitude of tangents including in depth studies of the lives of the men searching for the ship (which were interesting but not terribly relevant), and I'd say the actual story focusing on the tactical search for the wreck only constituted about half the book. Also, without spoiling the ending, the main characters fly all over the place at great expense doing a ton of primary research, and then the biggest piece of the puzzle ends up being in a newly published book that you can buy on - that element had a feel of deus ex machina about it. But overall it was an enjoyable and quick read, and I did learn something about Bannister, the treasure hunting "business," and the dangerous techniques used in underwater recovery efforts. Would recommend.
• I have enjoyed the collaboration between Kurson, Chatterton, Kohler and now Mattera. Shadow Divers is one on my favorite books. Now this one Pirate Hunters is another. I have two hobbies, diving and treasure hunting, and this second book encompasses both. It is amazing the product that can be created when professionals get together. I nearly finished this book in 2 days. I could not stop reading it. That would have been a record for me.
• It was the title of this book that first captured my attention. The fact that the book is based on a true story made it even better! The quest for the Golden Fleece really comes to life in the book. The life of a pirate is described to the point of being able to picture the images in your mind’s eye. The sheer terror of running abreast of a pirate ship and crew causes your heart to beat faster. Clearly, this was not the career for the faint of heart! Sometimes, though, it was a career of necessity. The financial and emotional toll of the men and their families who searched for the Golden Fleece is clearly detailed. This book is about so much more than finding a ship or the treasure sometimes worth millions on it. It’s about doing those things that though you think might be impossible, drive you to the point of knowing who you really are and what you really value. You can’t put a price tag on that!
• I love a fast-paced adventure novel, filled with treasure hunters, deep sea divers and an anti-heroic pirate captain. And to find such a story, which also happens to be true....now that's a real treasure!
  
  This is the first time I have read Robert Kurson's writing, but I really am impressed by the way he takes a true story and writes non fiction as though it's an exciting adventure tale that just flies by. However, he could not have done this without some fascinating subject matter provided by deep sea divers and treasure hunters John Chatterton and John Mattera.
  
  The basis of this story is how Chatterton and Mattera have been commissioned to find the Golden Fleece, a ship captained by the pirate John Bannister. However, not only does Kurson's tale take us from the Dominican Republic to Europe to the States and back again, he also takes us into both the distant and more recent past as we delve into the lives not only of the infamous Bannister but also of Chatterton and Mattera. Pirates, mafia crime rings, German U-boats, battles against cancer and even diving experiences in the shadow of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001...it's all here in a fast-paced , well-researched piece of non-fiction, that reads like a combination adventure - historical fiction - detective novel.
• Robert Kurson is a writer you can’t put down. It was an amazing story about two treasure “finders,” who follow their instincts and come up with a bounty. I’m now excited about reading more books on piracy. His writing style is quick, compelling you to the end.
• I really enjoyed this book . I felt like I was there too. I loved that pics at the end of the book . I’ve always thought it would be a great adventure to hunt for stuff in the ocean . You made a 73 yr. old ladies dream come true. It was really great. Thanks fellas for a chance at hunting the prize !! Mildred Dawson .