CBR3 Book 78: "Heat Rises" by Richard Castle

Publisher: Hyperion
Page count: 320 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 25th, 2011
Date finished: September 30th, 2011

NYPD Detective Nikki Heat is trying to figure out why a parish priest was brutally tortured and killed in a New York bondage club. Her investigation takes her into the path of South American guerilla freedom fighters/terrorists, drug dealers, vicious CIA contractors, and also seems to piss off her Captain, who is clearly troubled by some of her discoveries. Having taken the lieutenant's exam, and clearly done very well on it, there may be a promotion in her future, if only she can survive the hired thugs sent to kill her.

There are further deaths, and as the trail suggests involvement from the highest levels of the NYPD, Nikki finds herself stripped of her badge, and left out in the cold. Luckily, she has help from her boyfriend, the successful investigative reporter Jameson Rook, and together they're determined to crack the case, solve the crime and get Nikki her badge back.

This is the third novel by Richard Castle, protagonist of ABC's weekly drama Castle. No where on the internet does it seem to reveal who actually writes these novels, which is a shame, because I would totally buy more of that author's works. The Nikki Heat books are frothy, entertaining and fun, with some violence and grittiness thrown in, just like in the TV show, and they're quick, exciting reads. I was especially interested in the ending of this one, which takes the characters in an intriguing direction. I hope that there will be a fourth one coming out around the time of Castle's fourth season, cause I'm well and truly hooked.

CBR2 Book 89: "Naked Heat" by Richard Castle

Publisher: Hyperion
Page count: 304 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: October 5th, 2010
Date finished: October 8th, 2010

NYPD detective Nikki Heat is not having an easy time doing her job. Her face is on every newsstand in the city after Jameson Rook's article printed, and made her far more famous than she would like to be. She is trying to forget all about the writer and his feature article after their break-up, but this proves impossible after she arrives at a murder scene to find New York's most vicious gossip columnist dead, and Jameson Rook is the person who found the body. Cassidy Towne was the subject of his next article, and he wants to team up with Nikki once again, to solve the murder, finish his article, and maybe get back into her good graces.

It turns out that there is nothing simple about the case. On the way to the morgue, Cassidy Towne's body is stolen, she had numerous enemies and was writing a tell-all book about the death of a high profile movie star - Heat is under pressure to solve the murder quickly and wants to stay out of the limelight while doing so. She wants nothing to do with Rook, but needs his insider knowledge about the murder victim to solve the case. And new bodies keep turning up.

Richard Castle is a fictional TV character played by Nathan Fillion. I have yet to discover who ghost writes these books, but the first Nikki Heat novel, Heat Wave, was an honest to God New York Times Bestseller. ABC has done an incredibly clever thing by having the novels published along side the TV show. Naked Heat is even better than the first novel, it's fast paced and entertaining, there is great banter between the characters, just like on Castle, and while I had certain aspects of the story figured out in advance, the murderer's identity and motive came as a surprise to me. I really want to figure out who actually writes these books, as I would happily pay money for other novels the person writes as well.

CBR2 Book 20: "Heat Wave" by Richard Castle

Publisher: Hyperion
Page count: 208 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Date begun: January 10th, 2010
Date finished: January 11th, 2010

The first novel in Richard Castle's new mystery series features NYPD homicide detective Nikki Heat, who is tough, sexy and determined to bring murderers to justice. Heat is none to pleased to be saddled magazine journalist Jameson Rook trailing her on cases, as research on his new in-depth article on the NYPD. A real-estate magnate has been murdered, and Nikki Heat has to weed through the numerous suspects while trying not to get to exasperated by (or attracted to) the smart-ass writer accompanying her on the job.

Heat Wave is the tie-in novel to ABC's mystery series Castle and apparently written by the main character of said show, Richard Castle. I have been unable to find out who ghostwrote the book, but as a piece of marketing it's wonderful. The book ended up at #6 on the New York Times best seller list, and feels exactly like the sort of book you'd imagine Castle actually writes. The plot plays out pretty much like an episode of the show, the only big difference of course being that the leads in the book actually hook up - something Castle and Beckett have yet to do on TV. Even the supporting characters are pretty recognisable from the TV show. If you go with the premise that this was actually written by Richard Castle, it's interesting how much wish-fulfilment he puts into his novel. A fun, if somewhat schlocky read, if you enjoy the show.