Naked Heat

Half of the enjoyment I get from this book is the sheer tongue-in-cheek nature of the entire thing. It's not high literature, but it's pretty darn fun.

The Castle creative team really do know their audience. The creation of a real Nikki Heat series is genius. And the subtle fan service in the books is awesome! (Did anyone spot the cop duo named Malcolm and Reynolds? Love it!)

More plot, more action, more characterization, fewer television tropes. These are what I saw as improvements in this second installment of Richard Castle's crime novel series featuring Detective Nikki Heat, inspired by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett. This time around the victim of the murder they are investigating was a well-known and widely despised gossip columnist. The situation is complicated by the fact that Jameson Rook's (based on Castle himself) magazine article about Heat has just hit the newstands, with her picture on the cover.

Of course, Castle and Beckett are also just characters in a television show. The parallels between the two fictitious worlds are part of what makes this book a fun read. Most of the time, the tone and show more interplay between the two main characters just works and the reader has fun spotting the crossovers.

On the other hand, the parallel worlds are sometimes plain awkward. I still don't think the 'real' Castle would have made all of the main characters in his book quite so similar to their television world counterparts. Sometimes it gets a bit creepy. And I think he would have come up with a better moniker for the author character than Rook (castle, rook, chess, get it?).

Even so, this is great fun for Castle fans. show less

Naked Heat turned out to be the book that I wanted to read when I picked up the first book of the series, Heat Wave. This second book in Richard Castle’s Nikki Heat series, published to tie-in with the hit ABC show Castle, was much more substantial than the first, and an all-round better read. The plot revolves around the death of a not-much-liked gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, and around uncovering the many layers that obscure the reason for her death. To add to the drama, Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook have not seen each other for a while, and the way in which they reconnect at the beginning of Naked Heat sets the stage for some interesting byplay in their (re)developing relationship. Of course, this plotline echoes the Season 3 show more premiere of the show, in which Castle is found with the victim of a murder, and this initial tie-in sets the stage for the rest of the book.

Many of the issues that I did not like with the first book didn’t arise in the second. Naked Heat was even more solidly plotted, with an engaging mystery and characters (suspects and victims) that were varied and interesting. There was a much better sense of polish, with lots of attention being paid to producing a well told story, and not so much going to establishing the book as a tie-in to the show. It certainly benefited from this treatment, as well as possibly from the fact that the writer(s) simply may have had more time to work on this one. Both Heat Wave and Naked Heat contain vastly entertaining, not unduly taxing, extremely engaging ‘whodunit’ mysteries, but Naked Heat does it much, much better.

In Naked Heat, there’s also a much clearer distinction drawn between Richard Castle and Jameson Rook, as well as Kate Beckett and Nikki Heat. While the conceit of asking the reader to see the show’s characters in the ones on the page still applies, Rook and Heat seem more fully drawn, with identifiably separate personalities from their television counterparts. As much as I want to be able to ‘see’ something of Beckett and Castle in the main characters of the books, I also want Rook and Heat to not merely be carbon copies, but to be able to stand on their own as well-rounded characters. After reading the first book, I thought that maybe I was expecting too much, but in Naked Heat this expectation was well realized.

Jameson Rook is a more abrasive character than Richard Castle. He’s a little less likeable and so it’s definitely not as easy to forgive his foibles. Additionally, Rook comes over as more self-serving than Castle and, along with some other minor differences, this serves to give Rook more ground to stand on as a character in his own right. The same can be said for Nikki Heat, who is a little rougher, a little less tolerant, and quite a bit ‘sluttier’ (to use the show’s term) than Kate Beckett. At the same time, Nikki is clearly seen to be working through the conflicts of what she wants in her personal life, especially as it concerns Rook, and this serves to make her as likeable and engaging as Beckett, while still establishing that she is someone different.

What didn’t change between the first and second books of the series were the references to the show, which added another interesting level on which to read the book. Once you’re a fan of the TV series, you can’t help but notice the not-so-subtle references to the show and it feels like you’re discovering little treasures along the way. The practice in the show to referencing other projects which the stars have done (especially Nathan Fillion’s ‘Firefly’) also makes its appearance in the book, and enhances that level of enjoyment. There’s one surprise however, that belongs purely to the book and was utterly hilarious, with the potential for lots more gags in upcoming books. The theme in the book of people having secrets is extended to Jameson Rook having one of his own, and the results are very, very funny indeed.

I also felt that more research went into this book, as there were lots of minor details about people and especially places that was missing from the first – at least for me – and really made this book come alive. It’s those things that, as a reader, you’d never know if they weren’t there unless you’re an expert on the subject, but when they are included, makes for a much richer reading experience and makes the story come alive. This is something that I tend to look for, and I’ll always give kudos to an author who does this for me.

I was really surprised when I realized that I was only about ten pages from the end. On the heels of that surprise was disappointment – I was truly sorry when Naked Heat ended, and that’s a feeling a reader always wants to have at the end of a book. show less

Beyond meta, this one: 'Castle' is, of course, a TV show about a crime fiction writer, Richard Castle, played by the lovely Nathan Fillion, who, for various flimsy and unconvincing reasons, is permitted to ride alone with New York detective Kate Beckett in order to research his writing. Beckett inspires a character, also a New York detective, named Nikki Heat; and this is, purportedly, one of the books inspired by the collaboration.

My head, just for one, is hurting rather badly about now.

Anyway, all that notwithstanding, this is a perfectly decent police procedural mystery, with a good plot and enough twists to keep the reader entertained. It’s a step or two up from an episode of ‘Castle’ – necessarily having to be a little more show more complex just for reasons of length, if nothing else. It’s even fairly well-written, although the author (we will assume not Castle, and not Nathan Fillion either) has a bit of a problem with descriptives, and Nikki Heat is ‘Heat’, ‘Nikki’, ‘Detective Heat’, ‘Detective Nikki Heat’ and ‘the detective’, if not all on one page then certainly all in quite short order.

The supporting characters from 'Castle' are mainly present, and only very thinly disguised, including Castle’s mother. We’ve lost his daughter, but gained an additional female detective. Castle himself is represented by journalist Jameson Rook – ohhhh, Rook, I see what they did there – whose excuse for tagging along after Nikki Heat is even less convincing than Castle’s. Castle the character, that is. Not Castle the writer. Who doesn’t exist.

Ummmm …

Incidentally, if any of these characters did exist (which, we have established: no), I can’t think that Kate Beckett would be very pleased with Castle at his giving Nikki Heat a murdered mother, since that’s something she’s tried to keep private throughout the show. But then, Castle often needs a smack. If he weren’t the lovely Nathan Fillion, he would undoubtedly get a lot more than he does. show less

This transmedia book is the second of the series from the Castle franchise on ABC. While I'm not sure how much you would appreciate this if you aren't a fan of the show, it's a must for a die-hard Castle addicts such as myself. This book came out last fall and I saved it for this summer when I knew the Castle hiatus would be killing me. I love that it gives me a little piece of Castle for my very own.

As with Heat Wave, this is a culmination of Castle's time shadowing Beckett. So it makes perfect sense that the writers use some of the cases we have seen on the screen, but jumbling them up and mixing the stories together with an entirely new plot. More to the point, they are very meticulous about keeping everything in Castle's voice. You show more can really hear his character as the author. It supplements the show with a depth of perspective on the character of Richard Castle. It's also amusing to see the characters made into characters. However, although "Castle" includes a caricature of his mother in the book, he does not give his Jameson Rook a daughter. I think that says a lot about the man, and the protective father, Richard Castle is...

Everything has been getting more complex on the show, providing more to draw from and making for a more intricate novel with more plot twists. Even the relationship between Lanie and Esposito makes it into Castle's book. The story is attention grabbing so I stopped thinking about the story-within-a-story-within-a-story thing and just enjoyed it as it was meant to be. Heat is through with Rook, having kicked him out of her life professionally and personally after his article on the department turned into a feature on her. But her freeze out comes to an end when Rook's newest journalistic subject is murdered and his insight is needed once again. It was a good case, and though I caught one of the clues planted early in the book, I didn't know the who and the why of it until it was revealed in the story.

The other nice thing about the novel is that it gives Castle-Beckett 'shippers' something to hold onto. The romance between Rook and Heat is a virtual love letter to Beckett (and still she isn't ready to let him in...). I also think it demonstrates that an on screen relationship could work with tension and interest still being maintained.

Heat Rises, the third book, is due out September 20, 2011 (along with the Season 3 DVDs) and it's definitely on my TBR wishlist, especially after the escalated, game-changing third season that the show had. It will be fascinating to see what changes in "Castle's" writing and what gets pulled into the story. I may not be able to hold out for a summer read again, though. I'll probably read it when the show goes into winter hiatus. The pull is that strong.

http://girlsjustreading.blogspot.com/2011/09/jenns-review-naked-heat.html show less

This is the second book in what I assume will be a series of them (as long as the TV show stays on the air). In this one Jameson Rook (the Mary Sue of Richard Castle, who's played by Nathan Fillion on TV) is found in the same apartment as one of Nikki Heat's dead body's. (Nikki Heat is the character based on Kate Beckett who's played by Stana Katic on the TV show). The body is of a famous gossip columnist. The story that unfolds is one that revolves around celebrity.

Just like the previous Nikki Heat book the one big stumbling block for me was that if 'Rick Castle' is really such a great author with all those Derrick Storm books then why on Earth would he write such a thinly veiled series like the Nikki Heat one?

Still, even though it had show more the same problems as 'Heat Wave' it was a better written book in a lot of ways. And, of course it was fun to be reading along and be able to think back to where all the different scenes happened during the show and how they were changed. If they had removed the Nikki/Jameson relationship stuff it might have even been four stars instead of three. show less

Naked Heat is the ultimate tie-in, not only does it shamelessly delve into the entertaining fictitious version of an already fictitious world that also happens to be an established television show, but it clips along as a pretty good stand-alone pulp mystery novel.

I imagine that these Nikki Heat novels were never meant to score very highly as masterful literary fiction, but they perform so well as critical must-reads for a devoted Castle fan-base, that no one really worries about the details.

In guessing that the main reason to read reviews of this novel is because you are a fan of the show, or at least a working knowledge of it, I want to make this very clear to all those interested.

READ THIS BOOK!

No really, it's that good!

As I clipped show more along (hooked from the first page because the characters read exactly like a real live episode of the show, only with different names) I found myself laughing, sighing and head-shaking at all the same points as I would while watching Castle.

Even better, there are so many cute little tidbits and shout-outs to the show's episodes and past characters that you can't help but point at the page and shout "THAT WAS IN AN EPISODE!" Yes, it makes you one of *those* fans, even without trying. It basically challenges your fannish knowledge, practically asking if you were paying attention the whole season.

It's hard not to love reading these novels (Heat Wave was also a fun read) especially for the fandom value. Every word on every page is lovingly crafted to read like a true-to-episode excerpt, right down to the product placement and name dropping. (Apple must have paid a fortune to have Iphones and the recent Itunes release of the Beatles re-mastered to be mentioned so many times in print)

The mystery plot itself it utterly inconsequential to fans reading (we'll read it anyways--and believe me, this one was a fun accumulation of different episode clips and arcs) and the meta quotient is off the charts. (Rook actually mentions the possibility of a Nikki Heat book deal, where previously he was only writing articles)

Once you try to wrap your brain around all the layers of meta, you won't be able to stop, which is a great sign that the producers and writers at ABC studios care about their audience.

Lastly, because you're only reading this because you want to assure yourself that you're not alone in thinking that a full-length book about your favorite characters on tv written by someone posing as Richard Castle, let me assure you that they've taken no short-cuts with bring the entertainment value. The acknowledgments at the end are worth the price of admission alone, which says so much in itself.

Now if only Richard Castle was flesh and bone, that would be perfection. Although that might not be the case, at least we have Nathan Fillion (who is damned well close!)

So happy reading Castle fans and *soon*-to-be fans. :) show less