"Heat Wave", by Richard Castle

Book 1 in the Nikki Heat series

When I learned there was a novel on the market by Richard Castle, one of my favourite TV characters/ program, curiosity got the best of me. It appears this is creative engineering, a marketing ploy, an ingenious coup to make us believe the TV character Richard Castle is also a published writer. Who the author really is, is another mystery, judging by the writing style, my guess is that Castle’s poker buddies (well-known writers) who make guest appearances in some TV episodes have a strong influence behind the hit series.

The novel is entertaining and fun to read. The plotting is basic, creating a run of the mill crime story with some twists here and there. The narration is simple, short and sweet and the dialogue is similar to the characters on the TV show. The book’s main characters have different names, Jameson Rook (Richard Castle), is the fictional award winning writer/reporter suffering from a dry period. With the help of his political connections, he is given the opportunity to shadow Nikki Heat (Kate Beckett) and her team of NYPD detectives, hoping to gain ideas for a new book. Nikki is far more aggressive in her relationships and deals with the continual presence of Rook in a different manner than her TV counterpart Kate but the other characters play similar roles, the exception is Alexis, Castle’s daughter, who has yet to make an appearance.

As you can see, while reading this novel, I found it hard not to make comparisons with the TV program, it was easier to visualize the characters, and they really came alive in my mind.

The story “Heat Wave” is based around the investigation into the murder of real estate magnate, Matthew Starr, whose body was found at the base of his penthouse apartment. Detective Heat and her shadow (Rook) are assigned the case and as in the TV show, he constantly second guesses her observations adding humour by teasing her along the way….

Readers should get a kick out of this novel, I did. It may not measure up to best but after watching and enjoying the TV show it is hard not to like.