Heat Storm (Nikki Heat)

Nice way t blend these two series into one story. I hope there will be more of the Heat Storm series.
Much more plausible storyline than the stupid LokSat plot they used in the last season of Castle.

I was looking forward to reading this new Nikki Heat story. It was great to have Nikki and her mother Cynthia Heat are back together again. I enjoyed reading about Derrick Storm for the first time. I look forward to reading a Derrick Storm book.

This was the first combined Nikki Heat and Derek Storm book by Richard Castle, and it was well done. It is related to the Castle TV show in that he is supposed to be the writer. Since Richard Castle is fictional, the book is ghost written. The ghost writer does a good job in capturing the tenor of the Castle TV show such that I have bought every "Richard Castle" book to date.

Not sure who wrote this one -- not much similarity in writing style from previous books in this series. If you like the Fox and O'Hare novels co-written by Janet Evanovich and Lee Child (or their surrogates) you might like this book, especially with the over-the-top, MacGyver-type, former govt agent Dad character providing most of the humor. But if you enjoyed the first six years of the Castle TV show (before it went off the rails and faded away) and the ghost-written clever books that followed, you won't be thrilled with this addition to the Nikki Heat/Jameson Rook series. What was most enjoyable in past novels included the witty repartee, clever plot twists and police "family" feeling mixed with crime procedures and some healthy sex appeal. This installment? Not so much.

This one starts veeeerrryyy slowly, veers off into the lame "I can't be with the one I love because I am consumed with my mother's disappearance" ploy (which almost single-handedly killed the TV series -- did you folks learn nothing from that?) and forces a strange, unemotional alliance between Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm. Luckily, Derrick's dad, Carl Storm, is a bit of a hoot, and the book heads into some whacky, comic-book style violence, which at least moves the plot (such as it is) along at a quicker pace. But the character Cynthia Heat? Ridiculous and wholly unbelievable. And the old school computer guy (whose name -- really -- is a cringe-worthy, middle-school-level pun) is a total mess. The whole plot is goofy, the ending is oh so weak, and honestly, it seems like no one knew what to do, so they just stopped writing. A pretty big disappointment.

Well, in my opinion the combination of Storm and Heat resulted in a sub-par story . There was little action compared to the first few Storm books or the first few Heat books. Nikki seems to have taken some "chill" pills as she does not come across as the action oriented, strong willed person we knew from the earlier works. Instead, she mopes a lot about her mother, which was a downer for me. Derrick Storm has turned into a bad copy of Jack Reacher, and he too has lost his "action oriented" self. And by the way, Rook has basically checked out, so there is very little (if any) by-play between he and Nikki in the book.
The first hundred pages were rather boring after the opening encounter (Storm) and the descriptions / discussions at times went on and on....for example, when Nikki's house was "burglarized". I also got very tired of the Cynthia story and thought the author tried to have too many things going on, and by doing so made the book a drag to get through in several areas. The ending may be a surprise to some, but most "Castle" vets would
probably see it coming after the first half of the story. Not sure if there will be any combo efforts after this one, but I would rather re-read the earlier Heat works. Don't waste your time.
HAPPY READING

Let’s be honest up front. Richard Castle’s Nikki Heat series is not great literature. It’s not even anywhere near the peak of good crime fiction. It was fan fiction created to tie into the popular ‘Castle’ TV show and, as such, wasn’t too bad.

However…

The last couple seasons of the ‘Castle’ TV series had one of the dumbest plotlines/story arcs ever written. It may have been created because of reported friction between the two stars. Whatever was behind it, it turned what had once been a better than average show into a pale shadow of its former self.

And now, ‘author’ Richard Castle is taking Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook down the same dumb path the screenwriters took the TV show. And this idiotic storyline turned this reader (and I’m sure more than a few others) off as much as that moronic TV story arc turned viewers off.

The writing here is often on a “See Spot. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run.” level as if a computer generated it. Other places it is overblown to the point of ludicrous. One example: Derrick Storm threatening a bad guy: “If you shoot her, I guarantee you the next bullet that flies will exit my gun and enter your head.” Really? The bad guy could have shot Storm a dozen times while he delivered that line. And some places, ‘Castle’ had his thesaurus working overtime to come up with the most obscure synonym possible.

Lee Child, in his Jack Reacher books, does a great job of explaining how things work. ‘Richard Castle’ tries to do the same here. He fails every time. Instead of coming across as engaging and interesting, it comes across as plodding and dull.

The last lines of this book are: 'But, truly, this was not the end for Heat and Storm. This was only the beginning.'

Well for me this is the end. ‘Richard Castle’ is now banned from my ‘To Read’ list.

This book was written to sabotage the Heat franchise. A slapdash advert for Derrick Storm. Storm and Heat barely interact- they only share the first and last scenes in the book. This entry has none of what made the series entertaining- the dynamic of Heat and Rook, the kooky murder mysteries, and the strong cast of supporting characters (even Rook barely shows up) are all axed. The climactic fight is a vacuum of tension because the heroes are literally too busy telling each other how attractive they are to worry about Heat being in mortal danger. None of how Cynthia Heat survived makes sense and contradicts key parts of prior books. Even if you could forgive that, the author fails to deliver on an emotional payoff 9 books in the making by actually skipping over the reunion of Nikki and her mother. [SPOILERS] Seriously, the final battle with the villain (the female presidential nominee from the last book, where the villain was the male presidential nominee) ends mid-scene and jumps to Carl and Cynthia getting married weeks later. This book is stupid.

My usual disclaimer… Castle was a favorite TV series. The overlap can be confusing trying to recall what happened in the books versus the TV show, and knowing that the book will have the similar situations in the characters’ personal lives as the TV series.

I read “High Heat” (Nikki 8) back to back with “Heat Storm”. “High Heat” wasn’t exactly a cliffhanger but did set up the story line for this entry. It brought back the charm of the discontinued TV series and reminded me why I enjoyed it.

Nikki and Storm are able to work together as respected colleagues without any sexual attraction. I do not believe the television show would have allowed Castle to be objective and not jealous as Rook is in the Heat series. In the mind of the “author” Castle, I’m sure he would have designed his written hero Rook just this way. But basically the duo and HEAT we expect in a Heat book is Heat and Rook and not a threesome. Okay for one book but beyond? It defeats the purpose of the couple.

[spoiler alert]
[issues]
It was eye-rolling to have Heat backslide and run away from Rook when she felt she had to protect him when working on the case. That was so overdone in prior books and TV episodes, I thought we had got pass it.

Given the craziness of the last real Presidential campaign, having two books wipe out two leading contenders as corrupt right before the election, leaving the last candidate more or less unopposed (and not addressing this issue) was over the top. And also I felt a bit cheated at the similar plot “villain” in sequential books.

The rapid ending was not satisfactory and could have used more pages.

THE PLANE, THE PLANE…. Okay clearly this blew past the editor… “newest and best seaplane on the market. It seated four adults” … Ok OK OK… you have the full rescue gang running to this plane…. Rook, Storm, Dad, Mom, add the pilot and saving Heat… that is SIX people. And we don’t get anything but Storm and Heat floating with the parachute, cut to living room. Come ON, more detail. There was so much detail on the plunge-rescue then poof, living room. Nothing about cramming all those bodies, two soaking wet, in that seaplane. Nothing about the villain getting arrested beyond a quick recounting of what we “missed”.

And the rapid connection between Mom & Dad… Way too fairy tale.

I do not know if there will be more books combined or separately. The last sentence implies the series will continue. I will continue to borrow because I still enjoy the snatches of humor and reminder of the TV show, but I dropped a star in my ranking from my issues above.

Format: Borrowed eBook

Audio books rock! When your eyes are tired, just pop in the headphones and get the full experience of a book.

Heat Storm is the latest from the fictional Richard Castle from the TV show. Don't know who the actual author of these titles is, but the writing on this one seems comparable to the TV show. Heat Storm has the two title characters from Castle's novels teaming up for the first time. Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm begin two investigations that quickly converge into one massive conspiracy. There are many twists and a lot of the thread are tied up in this book.

I absolutely love that Derrick's father, retired FBI agent Carl Storm was able to get in on the action this time. The story arc with Carl is priceless and a fitting wrap up. However, I hope that this is not the last Heat/Storm team up as they make a worthy team.

A very enjoyable read with action and many story thread wrap ups. Heat Storm

I loved the Castle series on TV and have followed their alter-egos through Richard's books. His writing makes for a fairly quick read, the characters are modeled on the television characters. That being said, an aside to the biography writer that Castle married his inspirational muse and his daughter has moved out. The author is father to three children, i I recall correctly. This book is, and I have not finished it, an ambitious look at a Chinese mob and its link to Heat's mother, a spy herself. He death, which Nikki/Kate investigated and believed she solved, was *spoiler*
a ruse to protect her daughter. That helps makes the story an emotional roller coaster for Nikki. Very good read.

I love this series, both the book and the television show. This is a crossover book involving Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm. I enjoyed the story line, it is as fast paced as it normally is. I missed the character of Jameson Rook a bit as he didn't show up until the end. I loved Carl Storm! I was mad at the last chapter however. Some event happens and the last chapter takes place 3 weeks later and I was missing a lot of information about the characters. I will still keep reading the series if more are written.

I wonder if somebody else wrote this or Tom Straw just forgot how Rook & Heat met. Lots of changes of canon from the earlier books which is a big deal for me. Also this book parallels the separation between Casket on the show, which again was disappointing. What brought the rating back up from a 1 star was were the Storm guys. In many ways Derrick Storm becomes Richard Castle: A big man on campus that gets taken down a couple of notches when with his dad, which was a fun read. Heat•Storm was a more telling title that I thought. Depending on the politics of ABC/Straw/Hachette there might be a future in the Heat•Storm team.

Heat Storm is a very will written mystery with the usual interesting will developed characters plus some new ones. The story line is a continuation of Nikki's mother's death with a romantic conclusion. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys will written mysteries. Enjoy reading

This combines the two characters. Guest what? Derrick Storm is not needed for the story. Jason Rook could have been used in his place for almost everything.

If you are one who got into this from the TV story.

You will like how this is resolved for Nikki in a way it was not for Kate.

One of the most juvenile books i have encountered. i stayed with it wondering if it could get more ridiculous and it did, keeping me to the absurd ending. I pulled this from the library and fortunately didn't waste my money. To think someone can make a living turning out thid drivel.
D. A. Laughlin

I delayed reading this book because it may be the last of the series. The action is fast paced; divided between Nikki Heat and Derrick Storm. Carl Storm, Derrick’s dad has a significant role, while Rook has a smaller one. I hope Mr. Castle continues both, Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat books.

I enjoyed the characters and the pacing of the book, very reminiscent of the Castle TV series. I have to say that at one point the author took a well known scientific principle, stabbed it in the heart, and then kicked the corpse a few times. I don't know if he was trying to make Richard Castle the fictional author look bad, or if the real author is actually that ignorant.

Nice way t blend these two series into one story. I hope there will be more of the Heat Storm series.
Much more plausible storyline than the stupid LokSat plot they used in the last season of Castle.