I love the television show, Castle. When I heard they were going to release a book that was “written” by the main character, I pre-ordered it months in advance.
The first book was good. It was an ok police procedural and it felt like it could have been written by Richard Castle. I pre-ordered the second and it was barely passable. The writing was clumsy, filled with angst, and felt like it was written by someone who didn’t know the series.
I was so disappointed by the second that I didn’t pick up Heat Rises, the third, until it was in stores. Even then it took me nine months to work up the courage to read it.
Was I ever surprised! This is by far the best written, most authentic, and most entertaining of the series.
If you don’t like the show, or haven’t seen it, this book isn’t for you.
Below is my review. For more information on how and why I review books read my post here.
Characters
This is a strange concept. For this book to succeed it has to not only create interesting and well rounded characters. It also has to mimic the voice of Richard Castle. Who is also a character. It’s Meta in many ways.
In the other books, I could believe that maybe Castle wrote them. This book felt like it was written by Castle. Each of the characters that are based off of other characters in the show, acted the way they should. The voices were perfect.
The only problem I have with the characters, relates to how perfect they are. It makes it very difficult to separate them from their TV counterparts. A real author wouldn’t make the comparisons so blatant and I felt like the writer was pandering to the audience at times.
For characters, I give it 4 out of 5
Writing Style
The writing style was exactly what you’d expect from Richard Castle. It was witty, quick, and interesting. The writer even took time to add a few jokes that Richard Castle wouldn’t understand. For example, at one point someone tells Heat that she could be a Bond girl. Stana Katic was a bond girl in Quantum of Solace.
For what it was, it was good. I give it a 3 out of 5.
Story
Wow was this story stretched. It took way to long for it to build up and then twice as long to finally get somewhere. I’m not a big reader of police procedurals, I can’t judge if this was normal.
Don’t get me wrong, it was an interesting story and I’d say it was even better than some of Castle’s season endings. It was just a little slow at times.
I give the story a 2 out of 5
Fun
Despite all it’s faults, I love the television show and I had a lot of fun with this book. I felt like I was connected to the show. I didn’t find it hard to read and I enjoyed most of it.
I give it a 4 out of 5 for fun
Overall
This is a great book for fans of the TV series. Read the first one, skip the second, and definitely read this one.
If you don’t like the series, move along. This isn’t the book you are looking for.
Final score is 70%