Heat Wave, Premium Edition (Nikki Heat, Book 1) (original 2009; edition 2011)

This was exactly as I expected - an episode of "Castle," but a bit more on the Mickey Spillane side. It was like eating a whole pie - even though it was bad, I couldn't put it down. A fun read. If you're not expecting Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, enjoy! ( )

I didn't have high hopes for Heat Wave after reading some of the reviews here, but I'm glad I borrowed it from the library anyway. It was a fun, quick, light read. Is it my new favorite series? No, but I'll definitely read the other books between the show seasons for a Castle fix. ( )

Perhaps it's not classy, but I enjoyed this spin-off/tie-in supposedly written by the main character of the TV series "Castle".

The characters are clearly based on those Castle 'observes' in the TV show with Jameson Rook (Rook - Castle, geddit?!) being a reporter on a ride-along for research with detective Nikki Heat. It's great fun seeing slightly skewed versions of the characters I know - and parts of the book that were mentioned in the TV series.

Also enjoyable as a detective novel in its own right with Nikki Heat and her team investigating the death of millionaire Matthew Starr and the secrets of a wealthy New York family.

Literature? No. Cheesy? Perhaps. Fun and enjoyable? Yes. ( )

My expectations for this book were not high, given that it's purportedly written by a TV character, and so I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all that bad. Like the television show, the plot felt formulaic. Here's the action scene, the heroine-in-dager scene, the sex scene, etc. But it was competently written. I was surprised to see double quotes using inside of double quotes, but hey, we're not living in the Grand Age of Editing.

However, if I play along with the premise of the TV show and this book, nothing makes sense. We were shown the heroine of the TV series, taking to her bubble bath to read this book. The plot of the book largely turns on the sexual tension between the writer and the female detective. How could the TV-show detective -- or the mystery novelist -- pretend to be so clueless about their mutual attraction that has been laid out so carefully in the book he wrote about her? Logic takes a holiday on that one. Still it was a fun quick read. ( )

This is a pretty awesome idea, all things considered. Put out the book that the character writes, and do it all in character. Even the marketing, from what I've seen. Right down to the acknowledgements in the back. It's a moneyspinner: even people who don't know the show, Castle, might pick it up, and certainly loads of people that watch the show will pounce on it. And people who read it unknowing might end up sucked into the show.

Also, tons of opportunities to reference it in the show, and to further characterise Richard Castle himself.

The mystery itself is way secondary to all other concerns, reading it as a fan of Castle. It's pretty trashy, an easy read, quick: good to just kick back with, and not think too much about. The story on its own is so-so, I guess: I was there for the Castle references, not for anything unique and scintillating on its own. Pretty much standard fare.

Not sure how I felt about the idea of Castle writing a sex scene about the characters so clearly based on himself and Beckett. I guess I'll have to see how it's played in the show, but I didn't think he'd go that far.

Still, pretty fun, and an awesome idea. ( )