Heat Wave (Nikki Heat Book 1)

As a fan of the TV show, I thought it was cute and fun that the fictional character of Richard Castle is being used as a real writer. I wouldn't be a true fan if I didn't read his made-up novels. I read the Storm novels and thought they were entertaining. I decided to read the first Nikki Heat novel and was a wee-bit disappointed. But all in all it was still very entertaining. There were a few 'dry' (filler) chapters and then there were a few suspenseful moments, pretty much like the TV show. I literally pictured Stana and Nathan in every chapter and the full cast of Castle. I believe that is the reason I still found it entertaining to read. And since the show is over I felt it helped fill the gap in my life without Castle (😔)Not sure I will continue reading the rest since I find the price on amazon kindle a bit high for a fictional writer's novel. There are 9 books in the series of which 1 thru 7 cost $7.99 while 8 & 9 cost $12.99 & $14.99 respectively. I think these prices are absurd since Richard Castle is not a real writer. The real people who write the novels are talented but nothing like Stephen King or Greg Isles or John Grisham. (To name a few).That's it I guess in a nutshell: entertaining like the series, humorous and somewhat suspenseful like trying to solve a crime.

I was a fan of the recently cancelled TV series, but it took me a long time to start reading this series of books. The 1st installment Naked Heat was a good mystery and reminiscent of the early days of the TV show. Thus I would strongly recommend this Book to Castle fans looking for more now that the show is gone. I'm giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 since the writing wasn't as polished as it could have been and the general mystery wasn't difficult to solve, though some of the details of the crime were more difficult to decipher ahead of time.

A few days ago Sue Grafton, one of the finest mystery writers of my lifetime, passed away. Seeing the news of her passing reminded me that I had not read a novel in several years. "Heat Wave" has been sitting in my Kindle library since the week it first became available, so I opened it and started reading.Richard Castle is not a real person, of course, so my expectations were not high. When the day arrives that computer AI become published writers their stories will be very much like this one: shallow, moderately entertaining, rife with cliches.By the same token, it will do for now.

What can I say? My wife got me hooked on the TV show  Castle: The Complete First Season . I bought all the Castle books over the past year for my wife (to include the Derek Storm short stories & the first graphic novel as well) or so. I figured it was time for me to take the plunge and actually read a Nikki Heat story, and I am glad I did.While reading Nikki Heat I couldn't help but picture the characters from the TV show in my mind. Different? Yes, but darn close as well. Several readers have asked if they NEED to watch the TV show to enjoy the Nikki Heat stories. I would say you don't "need" to, but it sure helps. If you watch the show, you'll pick up on lines from the show and see how the characters think and act. I would say it is like watching the  Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery [HD ] movies without first having watched the James Bond movies (like  Dr. No [HD ]) that they are making fun of. Sure you can still laugh at the antics of Powers, but to truly get the gags, it helps to have seen the movies that he is making parodies of.The bottom line is that I enjoyed reading this thriller and will plan on reading the other Nikki Heat stories. My wife has them all on her Kindle, and I'll just get them delivered to my Kindle.On Christmas Day I got my wife the 3 Derek Storm short stories, and I have already downloaded the 1st Derek Storm short story to my Kindle:  A Brewing Storm: A Derrick Storm Short  and will start this story today.

We didn't like it. The wife didn't even finish it. Ok, a bit more meat? Nikki Heat tries to thread the needle between a goofy cut up comedy and a police procedural and fails. This reboot of the Castle/KB first meeting is a reimagined with thinner characters, and cornier lines. We know Castle has been cancelled, and you will find an analogue to the show here. Fair warning, the best written part of the book is the acknowledgment, had the entire book been written like that it would have been better.

I love the ABC's series "Castle". The characters in the book are loosely based on the characters of the show. I say loosely because as much as I like the book, the characters pale in comparison to the characters of the show.When Det. Nikki Heat is called to the murder of Real Estate mogul Matthew Starr, her biggest problem is her tag along reporter. Does she give in to her attraction to Jamison Rook?Jamison Rook is annoying yet handsome, aggravating yet charming, and funny. Although sometimes his jokes are a little misplaced and bad timed. Detectives Raley and Ochoa are also funny and love having Jamison around.This whodunit story is pretty compelling and surprising. There are so many suspects but the story flows nicely so you aren't confused or lost by it all.

Great story to keep my friend entertained. She had #4 and it ended strange with no real ending so I fould out it's a series of 10. I bought her the first 3 to catch her up to hers and then #5 after it. Will be ordering her 6 through 10 as well soon. She loves it for the most part but it does have some sexually explicit scenes and some crusome bloody murder scens so careful around the little ears. My friend loves that she can listen in her vehicle while taking me to doctor appts at the kidney transplant institute

Loved it! I was hooked and read it in 2 days. If you're a fan of the TV series 'Castle' then you're in for a treat! The book has been written as if Richard Castle is the author, with the same wit, bravado and tongue in cheek humour. It's basically an episode of Castle!Wikipedia nicely sums up the book's recurring characters:'-Detective Nikki Heat is the lead character in Richard Castle's Nikki Heat book series. Heat is "loosely" based on the fictional NYPD detective Kate Beckett, possessing a similar backstory, in that her decision to become a detective was motivated by the death of someone close to her - although Heat has a niece and siblings that Beckett lacks - and the first case she investigates is adapted from several real cases Castle helped Beckett solve.-Jameson Rook is a famous magazine journalist who shadows the main character, Detective Nikki Heat.-Captain Charles Montrose is the captain of Heat's precinct and is based on Captain Montgomery.-Detective Ochoa is based on Detective Esposito.-Detective Raley is based on Detective Ryan.-Lauren Parry is the medical examiner and is based on Dr. Lanie Parish.-Margaret Rook is Jameson Rook's mother and is based on Richard Castle's own mother Martha Rodgers.'I had to keep my copy carefully hidden as both my dad and sister both wanted to nick it off me! Guess what they'll be receiving for Christmas...

I loved Castle from the very first episode but never expected to have the chance to read a book written by a fictional character. I suspect that my love of Castle is partly why I struggled initially to get into this book. I kept expecting Beckett, Ryan, Esposito et all to appear. As I read on I quickly realised that they're all there, just rebranded. The friction between Nikki Heat and Jameson Took grated a little at first but warmed up nicely as the story progressed. Now the story is excellent and truly worthy of Castle. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are goods and the main villain comes far enough from left field to be a surprise without being too far fetched. If you like the TV series , trust me, you'll like the books and if you're not sure give it a go anyway for a light hearted fast paced crime novel.

As a fan of the series I was hoping to read something with an entertaining story, however this book feels like its been cobbled together as a bit of marketing exercise to cash in on the tv series by making a prop a quick reality.The story as a crime thriller lacks the substance to grip and incise you deeper into the story and in a way for any fan of the series seems to be made of a hash of memorable moments from the first series with a mix of a rejected script that couple have played on the show for real if it wasn't for needing to get past the sensors and 8 pm watershed.If you are one of these people who can see where a story is going or can guess the ending before it happens then this is not the book for you as for me I found it very predictable from about 100 pages in. All in all it's just run of the mill material, for die hard fans only.

I went through a period of my life when I read a large number of film and TV tie-ins, but it tailed off when I wasted days of my life reading a Murder She Wrote tie-in which was dreadful. However, I've been persuaded to go back to the TV tie-in thanks to my love of the ABC show Castle, starring Nathan Fillion as bestselling author Richard Castle who is shadowing homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) for his new series of books about Detective Nikki Heat. This book, Heat Wave is the first in that series, written by `Richard Castle'.Heat Wave in essence is the story of Beckett and Castle, but in this case they are Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook and as you read the book having watched the series you can hear Fillion and Katic as they spar over the body of a Real Estate tycoon. Matthew Starr has taken a header out of his apartment window, but was it suicide or murder? Nikki Heat tries to solve this complex case, involving art theft, loan sharks and trophy wives while New York is suffering through an unprecedented heatwave (ha ha!).Given that this book is purely a piece of TV merchandise, it's actually pretty good. I love reading crime fiction anyway and even without the Castle TV show tie-in, Heat Wave does stand alone as a novel. I wonder if perhaps with the subsequent novels they will be a bit freer as they don't have to recap all our favourite bits of the TV show, but I have bough the next on my Kindle to see and I will report back!!As a fan of the TV show I was already invested in this book, but was really pleased to find that it lived up to my expectations - and didn't stray into the territory of that dreadful Murder She Wrote book *shudder*.

Not sure why this book was written apart from the obvious monetary advantages. It reads like a roughly converted screenplay with characters jumping from one location to another in the space of a sentence. The plot would make a good tv episode but is missing something as a book. There is little character development and because of that i automatically pictured the television characters instead of being able to imagine new ones, but why bother? They are almost exactly the same. Won't bother buying another but might just go catch up on the show. Overall it is a more entertaining way to spend an hour or two.