I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Heat Wave, the fictional book written by the fictional character Richard Castle, actually exists. Which, I guess means it's no longer a fictional book. Sort of.
Being that Richard Castle is a superstar author in the show, I was hoping for a book we'd expect to see from a superstar author. Unfortunately, while it was a good book and an entertaining read, it wasn't that good.
As an adjunct to the show, it's a good book. But if it were a book on it's own without the show? Not so much.
I don't want to make it sound like a bad book... the prose and the dialogue were great, the plot was nicely done, and the pacing was perfect. Richard Castle's character is funny on the show, and we get that in the book as well.
I wasn't expecting the book to follow the show quite so closely. Same characters, different names. It was almost a biography, and I was hoping to read the fiction that Richard Castle would write. Also, I was hoping to get more of the kind of thing you can only get in a book - the stuff you don't see on TV. More of what people are thinking and feeling and hoping for, and while there was some of that, there wasn't enough for me.
Richard Castle doesn't really exist, and I'm assuming this was a collaborative effort, probably of the writers who write the show. Big kudos go to the writers for not making Nikki Heat a sex object - I was a bit worried about that. She's a strong, professional, talented, goal driven woman. And when she takes down a huge guy in hand to hand combat, it's not treated as if she's superwoman. We see her taking the time to practice her martial arts skills, we know that she works to stay at the top of her game so she can take down the bad guys when she has to.
I honestly don't know how to rate Heat Wave. If it weren't for the TV show, I doubt I would purchase the second book in the series. But with the TV thing? Yes, I will buy the next book as well. I'll split the difference and give it an 8 of 10.
Book Rating: Nikki Heat: 8 of 10
If the TV series continues then I'm sure there will be more books. Once we get at least two books I'll rate the series.
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