Mimi's Bookcase

Synopsis: A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and mogulswith no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.
Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. PulitzerPrize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.

My Opinion:
Let's be honest, this is not the best mystery/crime novel you can find. The plot is a bit lacking and if you don't know the TV show, the characters aren't well-defined and it may make it difficult to become attached to them.

However, since I'm a BIG fan of Castle I really enjoyed it. The first time I heard that the fictional book "Heat Wave" had turned into a real novel, I was pretty excited since we were going to see what changes Richard Castle made compared to the "reality" and understand better the reactions from the other characters after its release. Did I mention that I love Castle? (lol) Truly I do. The investigations are all interesting and gripping but the best of the best is of course its characters. They are all well-defined, with their own personality but if there's one thing they have in common it's their humour. They are all really funny in their own way and their interactions are greatly written. I just love the alchemy between them (not sure it's a correct expression).

But I'm here to talk about the book so If you know the show, you'll be glad to find similarities between the characters of the show and of the novel... of course, you already know that, it's the whole point. Though I regret there wasn't enough of Raley & Ochoa (aka Ryan and Esposito) and of course of the wonderful mother of Rook (Castle)'s mother *sigh*. Let me be clear, even though there are similarities between the characters, it is not a simple copy/paste from the series... you have to add Castle's imagination in the mix. It's a bit as if we were meeting the same characters but in another universe: they are similar and yet different enough that we can separate them from each other.
As for the plot, it could have been used for the show. It's really easy to imagine the scenes while you're reading.

Now, if you don't know the TV show... I highly suggest you start watching it :p. To be serious, I can't really recommend it. As I said above, if you take it as a simple crime book, the plot, the characters and the writting are lacking, it's definitely not one of the best in this genre.
Don't get me wrong, Heat Wave is enjoyable, easy to read and entertaining but I'm not sure that those unfamiliar with Castle would truly like it.


To summarize: I'd reserve this novel to all the fans of Castle. If you're not one of them but don't expect much of it anyway, then go ahead, you may like it.