Wild Storm: A Derrick Storm Thriller

This is the second Derrick Storm book I have purchased. I loved the first one and haven't read this one yet, but am sure it will be action-packed and as entertaining as the other book was. Highly recommend this series to all readers.

Funny and cleverly done for the benefit of Castle fans. I don't know how I would feel if I were not such a die hard fan, maybe one star less. The writing is excellent, much better than some of the earlier Castle tie ins.

Unlike the Nikki Heat series which resembles the characters and cases on Castle, Wild Storm plays out like a combination of a James Bond and a Jason Bourne films. The characters and settings are realistic, but the international plot feels sightly unrealistic, especially with the lasers. I'm not for sure whom the ghostwriter is, but the writer did a great job creating a fast-paced plot that never felt cliched or boring. Derrick Storm is fun and intriguing character; plus unlike other characters from recent adventure novels Derrick never felt cartoonish. Overall, I thought Wild Storm has a wonderful blend of mystery and adventure and is more thrilling than the recent slue James Patterson's releases. Fans of series, or adventure fans in general, will enjoy reading the newest Derrick Storm thriller.

*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

In places, the story becomes totally ridiculous. Here's this superman, virtually impregnable, who gets taken by a woman he's never met. Totally ludicrous. An unbelievable and convoluted abduction that could have been done with a simple blindfold. Typical of the writer. Make things complicated for no discernible reason. He also has a habit of digressing to a totally inane subject in the middle of an extremely suspenseful sequence. These writers crank out these books, but will never ascend to anything even remotely resembling the great works by James Joyce, E. Hemingway, Wm Faulker, JD Salanger, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. They, this lower echelon, just do not possess the skill, plain and simple.

Richard Castle has two series of books. The Derrick Storm series is written as an over-the-top hero. If you are looking for serious intrigue, this is not for you. Like James Bond bends the rules whenever he feels it is right, Storm is beyond James Bond, being prepared for whatever crisis he finds himself in, physically strong, brilliant when he needs to be, always able to outwit the villain, wins when he gambles, able to perform super human feats with no super powers, always the right item to MacGyver the situation. He may flirt, dance, and kiss a few women, but the series is not about romance. His on and off again relationship is only a side bar to the mystery. There is very little romance in his story. The Nikki Heat series mirrors the Castle TV series focused equally on solving mysteries and the relationship between Heat and Rook.

I don’t think new readers would have a problem with this book as a standalone. There are a few details referenced from prior books, for example regarding how a couple of the characters had been presumed dead before, the relationships between Storm, his father, coworkers & boss, but I think the story stands on its own if you can’t read the prior offerings first.

The book was fun but it dragged at times for me. I didn't like the jumping, each new chapter rotated through other threads of the story. They did all come together in the end but for me just as the action part of the story got going, a new chapter dragged me back to another thread.

I did enjoy the book; a fun, over the top, quick read that you can count on having a happy ending. I will read another in the series if offered.

Format: Borrowed Book

Wild Storm is the latest in the Derek Storm series based on the Castle TV series. I've read all of Richard Castle's books so far and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. This one was no different.

Derek Storm is a larger than life secret agent who is kind of affiliated with the CIA but better described as a private contractor that the CIA use on occasions when any normal agent just won't do. This book starts with a flight and a climber on his way home (who we later learn is Storm) when he feels something wrong with the plane and he ends up climbing on the wing to fix the problem and help it land safely. He then finds out, once on the ground, that three other planes were not so lucky. From there we see him travel to Panama, Monaco, Egypt and Gibraltar among other places as he tries to figure out what happened to the planes and why those in particular were targeted and what it was they were using to bring them down.

Storm always seems to get into impossible situations that any normal 'spy' would be hard pushed to get out of. However Storm always seems to be prepared with just enough knowledge and equipment to avert every disaster. These books offer just the right amount of escapism without going too over the top.

What I always love about the Richard Castle books are the references to the TV show - the best one so far was in Wild Storm. One of the victims turned out to be none other than Pi, a fruitarian cult leader who preys on young college girls although they didn't go so far as to name one of his victims Alexis!

Part way through the book everything took on a whole new meaning. It was eerily similar to the Malaysia Airlines crash of flight MH17. Reading about fictional accidents is one thing but when something like this actually happens where a plane is apparently shot down with a weapon and innocent people die it starts to make you think. It saddens me to think that we have come to this place again where innocent people are caught in the crossfire of a fight that has nothing to do with them.

Reality aside, this was a great book. I'd love to know who actually writes these books as I'm quite sure that it's not Nathan Fillion - although it would be an awesome twist if it did actually turn out to be him!!!!

I thought most of the presdicaments were so farfetched that it was almost laughable. Climbing out on the wing of as passenger airliner to fix the aileron while in a dive, or hanging by the strut of a helicopter while in a hurricane by one hand. I'm willing to suspend belief to a large degree in a thriller, but when taken to ridiculous degrees I just laugh. Other than that, the characters were interesting and the writing was acceptable.

Very good summer novel - fun and fast paced. I liked it much better than the first Derrick Storm full novel. Maybe it was written by a different ghost writer. In any case, a good read even though a bit far fetched at times. Fits nicely with the Nikki Heat series of books and has several nods to the "Castle" TV series.