Heat Wave

By: Richard Castle

Read: 20 October 2015

Oh, my… Hack! Absolute hack! But of the wonderful variety…

I never thought that I would love hack, but this, I really like! (Okay… too many exclamation points already. But, you get the point…)

To anyone who has watched the ABC series, Castle, this will be easy, but for those who are unfamiliar, I recommend following the convenient link I provided to check out an episode or two before you continue. I’ll be right here when you come back.

Good? Okay.

So, one thing about this book, it starts out slow. It is absolute hack, and a bit painful to read. It helped visualizing the characters, but Nikki Heat, aka Detective Kate Beckett, took on a transformation about mid-book, similar to this episode of Castle, where Nikki’s actress takes on Kate’s traits. Perhaps this was intentional.

But as much as I declare this hack, it’s GOOD hack, as shown in the actual action scenes. This was definitely written by an awesome author, who knows how to write a gripping scene, and not just glorified fan-fiction, which is the tone this book starts out on. So if this doesn’t appeal to you from the start, keep reading – it truly does get better.

And, as in the last few minutes of any show, the last few chapters are a true-to-form serial wrap-up. The only part that deviates from Castle & Kate from the show is Rook & Heat’s relationship. It gets physical almost right away, whereas in the show, that tension is delicious.

Hack, yes. Fan-fiction, double yes. But good? Most definitely. Fans of Castle, Nathan Fillion (because his character, Rook, is totally Fillion-esque), and witty detective novels should all give this a chance. It’s short enough at just under 200 pages that the painful first chapter can be easily skipped over or skimmed over until you get to the good parts.

And believe me, there are good parts!