Book Review: Heat Wave by Richard Castle
Oct. 24th, 2010 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Heat Wave
Author: Richard Castle
Published: New York: Hyperion, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 196
Total Page Count: 94,001
Text Number: 270
Read Because: fan of the show Castle, borrowed from Devon's father
Review: In the middle of a New York heatwave, a murdered real estate tycoon calls detective Nikki Heat to the case—and along with her comes the intrepid, aggravating journalist Jameson Rook. Heat Wave is almost precisely the book that you would expect it to be. The writing is indulgent and silly without ever going so far in that direction as to be bad. There's some purple prose and some clever quips, and it reads fast and easy. Those clever quips make for entertaining dialog, and characters are caricatured without being flat. The mystery itself is pleasantly unpredictable (and perhaps a smidgen too unsolvable), and while the big reveal is too staged it's nonetheless a satisfying conclusion. In most ways, the book is just solid entertainment—and has no pretensions of being more. It's a just pulpy detective novel, quick and fun, and perfectly satisfying (if unremarkable) in that regard.
The book's biggest drawback is that it feels like little more than a novelized episode of Castle. The character names are different and the relationship between Castle and Beckett, i.e. Rook and Heat, is sped and spiced up (and as a result, more indulgent than intriguing—which suits a pulpy crime novel, but misses the core of Castle's appeal), but just about everything and everyone here will be familiar to fans of the show. It's not convincing as Castle's "actual" novel—it begs length and creative licence, and perhaps a bit more skill, in order to resemble those big, bestselling hardcovers. This feels like a transcription peppered with psuedonyms and wishful thinking (and a sex scene), which is fun—but doesn't fulfill the promised conceit of being a real book by the famous Rick Castle. In that regard the book is a bit of a let down—and since most readers will be drawn by that premise, they should be so warned. But as an entertaining, unremarkable, quick detective story, Heat Wave does deliver. I recommend it moderately: this isn't my preferred genre, and the book doesn't live up to my highest hopes, but it's a fun yarn.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Richard Castle
Published: New York: Hyperion, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 196
Total Page Count: 94,001
Text Number: 270
Read Because: fan of the show Castle, borrowed from Devon's father
Review: In the middle of a New York heatwave, a murdered real estate tycoon calls detective Nikki Heat to the case—and along with her comes the intrepid, aggravating journalist Jameson Rook. Heat Wave is almost precisely the book that you would expect it to be. The writing is indulgent and silly without ever going so far in that direction as to be bad. There's some purple prose and some clever quips, and it reads fast and easy. Those clever quips make for entertaining dialog, and characters are caricatured without being flat. The mystery itself is pleasantly unpredictable (and perhaps a smidgen too unsolvable), and while the big reveal is too staged it's nonetheless a satisfying conclusion. In most ways, the book is just solid entertainment—and has no pretensions of being more. It's a just pulpy detective novel, quick and fun, and perfectly satisfying (if unremarkable) in that regard.
The book's biggest drawback is that it feels like little more than a novelized episode of Castle. The character names are different and the relationship between Castle and Beckett, i.e. Rook and Heat, is sped and spiced up (and as a result, more indulgent than intriguing—which suits a pulpy crime novel, but misses the core of Castle's appeal), but just about everything and everyone here will be familiar to fans of the show. It's not convincing as Castle's "actual" novel—it begs length and creative licence, and perhaps a bit more skill, in order to resemble those big, bestselling hardcovers. This feels like a transcription peppered with psuedonyms and wishful thinking (and a sex scene), which is fun—but doesn't fulfill the promised conceit of being a real book by the famous Rick Castle. In that regard the book is a bit of a let down—and since most readers will be drawn by that premise, they should be so warned. But as an entertaining, unremarkable, quick detective story, Heat Wave does deliver. I recommend it moderately: this isn't my preferred genre, and the book doesn't live up to my highest hopes, but it's a fun yarn.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
