Raging Heat

Richard Castle is back in print, and back to true form!! I love how these books run on a separate but parallel track to the Castle tv series, with thinly-disguised characters & plot points lifted from the show's various seasons/episodes (and, sometimes groan-inducing Firefly "Easter eggs"). While most of the secondary characters can rightly be seen as just re-named versions of their television selves (like Roach, whom I envision *exactly* as Ryan & Espo), the main characters of these novels are different and compelling enough to interest readers unfamiliar with the show.I suppose Nikki Heat bears a closer physical/psychological resemblence to Kate Beckett/Stana Katic than Jameson Rook does to Richard Castle/Nathan Fillion, but it's both easy and pleasureable to separate these two fictional worlds (it's also fun to speculate on the wish-fulfillment Mr. Castle indulges in with his alter-ego, who is a tanned, fit, childless, Tribeca-loft-owning, bed-hopping, marathon-running investigative journalist with 2 Pulitzers and--in his words--'a great ass'). The sex scenes have disappointingly cooled since the first 3 books (seriously--the first couple books are HOT), but the playful banter and deeper conversations of Heat & Rook always ring true and form their own dramatic arc within the logistics of a murder investigation.My delight in this series took a hit after the bloated excess of the previous two books (Frozen Heat & Deadly Heat): granted, there *were* 5 tv seasons' worth of Beckett's-mother's-murder plotlines to wrap up, but the global scope of the novels kept expanding so ridiculously & exponentially that I half-expected a metal-toothed Bond villain to appear and toss a razor-rimmed bowler hat at the leads right before pushing a big red button labled VAPORIZE THE WORLD. In *Raging Heat* we are back to real-world sized crimes, and while the end contains a scene that's a BIT too Agatha Christie for my taste, on the whole it's a wonderful return to the realistic scope and tone of these books (although, Mr. Castle, you can please bring the hot sex scenes back anytime, like...*now*).I can't NOT recommend any of the Richard Castle books, just because I love these characters/this series so much. However, just know that books 4 & 5 are kind of like those first few episodes of Friday Night Lights, Season Two: you just gotta power though them and try to not let them taint your enjoyment of what came before, and what comes after.

It’s been a couple of years since Nikki Heat finally solved the murder of her mother, and the resulting years have provided a routine to her life. All that is about to change when a body falls into her case load – literally.The man falls from the sky into the local planetarium. There’s no ID, and very little of him left to identify. Yet slowly Nikki begins making her case, a case that seems to be leading to a commissioner for the Port Authority. Meanwhile, her boyfriend Rook has developed some leads that point in other directions. Whose intel is correct? Can Nikki make a case against a man so well connected? And will Nikki and Rook’s relationship survive this case?While I had realized that the original few books in the series took place in a compressed time frame, I wasn’t sure if they were playing into that on purpose or not. Obviously they are since even with the two year time leap, this book takes place in the run up to Hurricane Sandy. That makes an interesting backdrop that adds to the story.As always, the story is strong, and the added conflict over the competing theories heightens the tension of the book. It also allows for some interesting character development, which I really enjoyed. Fans of the TV show Castle will enjoy seeing the nods to the show, but anyone who enjoys a good mystery will still find the case presented here to be very compelling reading.I have definitely come to look forward to these books, and this one didn’t disappoint. If you are a fan of the show, you really should give the books a try.

This will be an all-purpose review for the various Nikki Heat novels that have come my way from Amazon since Nikki appeared several years ago, a clever device of publishers and entrepreneurs and "idea guys" from TV and film surrounding the development of "Castle," now a premier serial and space filler for a TV station near you. Stana Katic, who has the role of Lt. Kate Beckett NYPD, the gutsy, sexy, clever homicide detective and heroine of the "Castle" series, pairs with the actor Nathan Fillion, who plays the brilliant, infuriating rich boy hero. It took several years of episodes to get their romance moving in the right direction as the cast and writers developed their own skiils and objectives. Enter the idea guys to tangle up everything! Somebody realized that the their now successful TV series has a hero who is an author. Ergo, why not "write" some of his novels and see who would buy them. And make their heroine Nikki Heat, a NYPD detective modeled on the fictitious Kate Beckett of the TV show. Suddenly these fake novels (crime and sex cliffhangers, easy-reading but with gripping plots and plenty of plot-shocks) became real-life best sellers, NYTimes-level best selllers! Now Nikki Heat, a fictional character, is "real" enough to sell novels based on the fictional Kate Beckett of the TV show, played by the real actress Stana Katic! I suspect there are "Nikki Heat fans" who are unaware of the layers of cleverness in the process of writing the novels. and take as Gospel that the Nikki Heat novels are "real" novels--the NYTimes says so, and Stana Katic and Kate Beckett smile their enigmatic smiles as Nikki Heat joins them in this delightful fictional charade. Here's to the trio of the ladies of "Castle"--long may they seduce us as Stana or Kate or Nikki!

Forget about the TV series. The books are better. They stand on their own merits as intensely gripping detective fiction.

If you enjoy Castle the TV series you'll love this book. So Castle, the fictional author brings out a series of novels featuring characters remarkably similar to Castle and Becket! It's a good joke but this novel, the first I've read of the series, is far more than that. The writing is first class and if you like crime novels but Nordic Noir is getting you down let this novel bring some sunshine into your life.Set against the dramatic backdrop of hurricane Sandy attacking the eastern seaboard of the US there is plenty of action. But there is real emotional stuff here as well as Becket, sorry Heat, feels let down and even under fire from the love of her life and the cops in her team.This is the first Nicky Heat that I've read, but it won't be the last!

I love the castle series on t.v. I had never read one of these books before and was pleasantly surprised. I saw that they were on offer as a series of books at christmas and didn't buy any of them. I am sorry about that now. Of course one has to imagine the looks they give eachother etc but I will now seek out others in the series. The reason for only four stars is I got a bit confused with the names and thought the plot a little too far fetched, but if I would have started at book one, I am sure this would have not been the case by the time I got to book 6.

As others have said, if you enjoy the Castle TV series you will love the whole series. This is the last in the current set, but a 7th is due to be published in September 2015.The premise is that Castle, the fictional author, writes a series of novels featuring characters remarkably similar to Castle, Becket, and the rest of the gang. As with the other books in the series, the writing is first class. This book is set against the backdrop of hurricane Sandy attacking the eastern seaboard of the US together with all the emotional ups and downs of Becket/Heat’s life.Eagerly awaiting the release of the 7th book in September.Hoping desperately for Castle Series 8 with the full set of characters which make the TV series worth watching.

I read this out of order, but no problem there. This an excellent tightly written police procedural, and a very clever tie in to the tv series.The heroine is tougher and her male protagonist is less effete than the TVs show which in the latest season is losing its wayMore fun than the show ever was, I give this four stars and hope the Nikki Heat series outlasts the show

Exactly what I expect from a Nikki Heat book, fast moving lots of twists and turns and a good ending. Love it.