(PSA) Books I've Read in 2014 Challenge

I see all the time people challenging themselves to read 52 books in a year, or a book a week. I'm almost positive that I do that. So, rather than picking a number of books, I'm just going to keep track of the books that I do read and I will review them all. In other words, be prepared for this blog to get busy! :-) Some of the books that I  read are for review for another site, so you might see [Review Forthcoming] if I have been asked to hold my review from publication, which I occasionally am.

Some of the books that I'll read this year are re-reads because I have my favorites that I re-read, sometimes annually. But I've not written reviews for them, so that will be a good thing to do. I hope that you enjoy the reviews and that they encourage you to read even one more book this year than you did last year.

XOXO

(PSA) In other words, not a review

I'll be marking posts that are not actually reviews as (PSA). I've decided to resurrect this blog so that I can actually get some practice writing reviews. One of the things that information professionals love to do is read books and talk about them, and I'm no exception to that rule. :) So... if you have a book that you would like for me to review, let me know! I mostly read romance in its various incarnations but I will read just about anything in any genre. So, send in the requests and I'll work on reading them. :)

Naked Heat by Richard Castle. Hyperion: New York.

Naked Heat is the second of the Nikki Heat books inspired by the ABC series "Castle". I've read a number of books based upon other works of fiction but the idea of having physical books that are alluded to within the context of the series is an interesting marketing ploy. As marketing ploys go, the Nikki Heat books are actually not at all badly written. I admit to being slightly disappointed with the first installment, Heat Wave, due to how short the book was. However, Naked Heat has proven to be a much more solid outing. As often happens, the sophomore book by an author tends to have a bit more meat on its bones and Naked Heat is no exception, though it is fictionally not the second book by Richard Castle.

The book is about the murder of a gossip columnist, which is made even more high profile when her body is stolen from the Medical Examiner's van on the way to the morgue. Beyond the police procedural aspects of the novel, the book simply wouldn't fit well into the world of "Castle" without the sexual tension between Detective Nikki Heat and journalist Jameson Rook (characters based on the characters of Kate Beckett and Richard Castle). Characters based on characters gets very meta, but that just adds layers to the book that fans of the show either enjoy or throw their hands up on.

I didn't exactly expect the ending, which is what makes a good mystery. It's an enjoyable summer read, but not a work of great literature.



Rating: 2 1/2 stars out of 4 because the ending was somewhat predictable