Heat Wave by Richard Castle

[smeddley]

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I absolutely adore the television show. Unfortunately, the book was... a sad, two-dimensional affair that I actually set down for several months right in the middle. And I'm the kind of person who usually reads a book in one sitting, so... yeah.

It wasn't all bad, there were times when you could see a glimmer of the characters, some really good one-liners and a bit of zing, but overall it felt like someone trying way too hard (Including the names... Rook, really?). It might have worked as an episode of the show, because there was a decent enough mystery (though that's not what makes the show great, I think the way the characters work together is what makes that show click) ...but then there was also an eye-roll inducing gratuitous sex scene.

Overall, I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone, unlike the show, which I recommend to anyone and everyone who will listen to me!

Comments

[foxfirefey]

Well, that's disappointing! I, too, like the show Castle, and I've been really enjoying the Kathy Reichs books that Bones is based off of.

[smeddley]

I read one - no two - of the Kathy Reichs books, and I have to say I liked them a LOT more than the Bones series, though I had a hard time because the character in the book series is a LOT different than the one in the books. And in my head I kept seeing the characters from the show. Grrr.

The Castle book is a thin... what's the word? When you thinly disguise your subject matter? C'mon brain! Anyway, you know what I mean. The characters are based on the show characters, but in a bad, over-emphasized, twelve-year-old kind of way. The whole thing just tried too hard. I was disappointed, especially since I actually spent money on the book! That'll teach me. (though I suppose if it makes the show more 'popular' so the network doesn't cancel it, it'll be money well spent, because the show is good)

[mela-lyn.livejournal.com]

http://mela-lyn.livejournal.com/182912.html

Wow - that's about exactly what I had to say. They never really give character descriptions, just assume you know what they look like b/c of the show. And then the section with the sex scene was too long and a complete break from the story. So yeah... I want to like it too b/c the show is my favorite. Oh well. I'll still go the book signings if they ever come to Ohio, I'll just take my Firefly and Castle DVD's to sign.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

Great minds think alike!

I posted to bookish and they think it was written by Tom Straw, because of the 'about the author' blurb on the book (which I admit I hadn't read).

I won't be buying another one if they come out with it, that's for sure!

[mela-lyn.livejournal.com]

I think it's Stephen J. Cannell. They had a whole section on 'spend a day with a mystery writer' on the DVD extras. And they call him the 'godfather' of the show b/c of a show he was in a couple decades ago.

I think I read the 'about the author' blurb but then again, I have no idea who Tom Straw is so I couldn't relate him to it anyway.

[icecat.livejournal.com]

I read the free chapter that they had posted, and it kind of read just like an episode of the show, except I thought they were trying just a bit too hard to make it sound just like an episode of the show. I was somewhat intrigued, but not enough to buy the thing.

[smeddley.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't. I'm not even sure I'd recommend getting it from the library, since there are soooooo many other, better books out there to read!

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

Having been bitten by the novelization of Serenity (which I later discover was written in less than three weeks), I'm wary of fan-fiction/novelizations. All too often, the work is rushed and I end up feeling cheated :(