ABC’s hit show Castle is not only dominating the Monday night airwaves—it is also conquering bookshelves all over the nation with the third Nikki Heat novel, Heat Rises. For those who do not know, the Heat novels that Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) based on the gorgeous Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) are tie-ins to the show. The books are credited to the fictional Richard Castle, but in real life they are written by a mysterious member of the Castle crew who has yet to be revealed. Rises is an intriguing, danger-laced romp through the world of crooked cops, dangerous ex-military men, and corrupt political figures.

Heat Rises was originally released September 20th of last year but was recently released in paperback. It is preceded by Heat Wave and Naked Heat, and will be followed by Frozen Heat, which has been slated for later this year.

The story is centered on homicide Detective Nikki Heat and an investigative journalist named Jameson Rook. The novel focuses around a murder that entangles Heat, Rook, and her co-workers, Detectives Raley, Ochoa, Hinesburg, and Captain Montrose, with many unexpected twists and turns. There are many similarities to the show—a tongue-in-cheek joke for the characters on Castle as well as the loyal Castle fans—but since Rises is a novel, it can take certain liberties with its content. For instance, curse words and sex scenes are permitted as well as in-depth moments between the characters, such as conversations about their day-to-day lives or extended looks into their pasts. It also allows the mystery to unravel at a slower pace since the plot is not limited to 42-minutes like an episode. These elements work to the novel’s benefit as it creates a wealth of tense, action-packed moments as well as funny, heartwarming ones, whether it’s Heat chasing down criminals or kicking back in her apartment with Rook.

Heat Rises picks up with Nikki Heat investigating the supposed suicide of Father Graf, a priest, found dead in a New York bondage club. The bizarre marks on his skin and the strange place his body is found leads Heat deep into the underbelly of New York, where she speaks to all kinds of people, from other clergymen to people who frequent the bondage circuit, to solve the case. Heat is also up for the position of lieutenant in her precinct, which adds pressure from her superiors as well as her co-workers.

Meanwhile, Rook has been on assignment in another country taking down a drug lord, and leaving Nikki feeling a bit lonely, as they had been dating before he left. However, to her shock, she finds out he has been in New York for a couple of weeks when the paparazzi photographs him coming out of a swanky party with his ex-girlfriend. Furious, Nikki pushes aside her anger and continues pursuing the case without trying to contact him to find out why he didn’t call her when he returned to the states.

However, as Nikki examines the events leading up to Father Graf’s death, Captain Montrose steers her away from certain aspects of the case, which frustrates her. She attributes this change in his behavior to the recent death of his wife and the investigation Internal Affairs has put him through, but she learns that Captain Montrose may actually be a suspect in Father Graf’s murder. The case gets heated as she is forced to choose between following the orders of her commander, who had previously been her friend and mentor, and discovering the truth about Father Graf’s murder, whether it deals with her Captain or not.

Later, Rook finally shows up at Nikki’s place and explains himself. She reluctantly accepts his apology and the two reconcile. He no longer rides along with her as he did in the previous novels because she feels it is too dangerous, but he does stick around to help her piece together the odd elements of Father Graf’s death.

The writing style used in Heat Rises is astounding. It has all the best parts of a classic crime noir story, but it keeps everything modern with hilarious one-liners and plenty of fun pop culture references, including a shout out to Nathan Fillion for his role as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in Joss Whedon’s Firefly. There is also a shout out to Stana Katic for her role in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace.

The characters are all vividly depicted and easy to picture both as their fictional selves and as representatives of the Castle characters. Many of their traits are taken directly from the show, but they also have their own hang ups that make them different, which is the entire appeal of reading the Nikki Heat series.

The mystery itself is a pulse-pounding enigma for most of the novel, and there are several dramatic moments that rival the show. It is far from predictable, but some seasoned fans may know where the plot is leading because of their knowledge of the show.

The only thing that detracts from the quality of the novel is the length. It is easier to keep track of suspects on Castle because we are given both faces and names, but in the novel, it is harder for the names of suspects to stick in the mind.

Overall, Heat Rises raises the stakes and does not disappoint by the end. There is no better way to beat the heat this summer.

Grade: 5/5

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ABC’s hit show ‘Castle’ (2009) premiered the season four finale, “Always,” May 7, 2012 at 10:00pm EST. How did it hold up? Let’s just say Castle fans everywhere will have something to keep them company as they wait for season five.

Spoiler alert for the entire series, and the finale, below. You have been warned.

For the new folks, here’s the basic breakdown of the premise for ‘Castle.’ Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) is a handsome multimillionaire crime novelist who grew bored with his character, Derrick Storm, and killed him off so he could start fresh. Soon afterward, Castle meets Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) of the NYPD’s 12^th Precinct.

She comes to him with a case where a killer is staging his murders in the fashion that characters are killed off in the Derrick Storm novel series. Intrigued by the case, and Beckett’s incredible gorgeousness, Castle weasels his way into her world as a consultant, which he accomplishes because he is friends with the Mayor.

Beckett finds him annoying but soon discovers that his extensive experience in criminology and his off-the-wall but insightful theories are useful and he decides to stick around for more cases. He then bases his next set of novels on Det. Beckett, coining her fictional character Nikki Heat.

Over the course of the four seasons, Castle and Beckett have steadily grown closer. In season one, she sees him as a nuisance but eventually realizes he can actually be helpful. In season two, Beckett starts to accept Castle’s presence in her life and doesn’t mind flirting with him as much as he flirts with her.

In season three, the two have started to bond over the unsolved case of her mother’s murder as well as realizing that there is more to their relationship than a partnership or friendship. In season four, they have to come to terms with a secret each of them is hiding from each other before it rips them apart forever.

In tonight’s finale, “Always,” an ex-thief is found dead in an alley. As they investigate, Beckett and her team, including Det. Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Det. Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas), find out the thief had just robbed the home of the late Captain Roy Montgomery (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) and stole all his files.

This leads them to suspect that the thief knew about the circumstances before Captain Montgomery’s tragic death, in which he revealed he was involved in the murder case of Beckett’s mother and died protecting Beckett from the people who want her dead. This leads Beckett back to investigating her mother’s murder, much to Castle’s distress as he reluctantly cut a deal with a man who knew about the men trying to kill her. In short, if Beckett stays off the case, she stays alive.

Finally, Castle confronts Beckett and tries to convince her not to pursue the case because the men who killed her mother and Capt. Montgomery will come after her again.

He reveals that he cut a deal for her life and confesses that he did it out of love for her, but Beckett stubbornly refuses to let it go. Castle walks out and she continues investigating without him. Detectives Ryan and Esposito manage to track down the killer’s location and Ryan pleads with Beckett to bring back up but she and Esposito insist they can handle it without calling in their superior.

Distressed, Ryan calls Castle but he doesn’t pick up the phone. Beckett and Esposito track down the killer, but he knocks Esposito out and makes a run for it with Beckett in pursuit. This leads a brutal fight on the rooftop. The killer overpowers Beckett and leaves her dangling off the side of a building. At the last minute, Det. Ryan and a team show up to rescue her.

Det. Ryan had been forced to inform their superior, Captain Victoria Gates (Penny Johnson Jerald), of Beckett’s action and she immediately suspends Beckett and Esposito. Beckett resigns from the force and realizes that Castle is more important to her than her mother’s case. She goes to his place and tells him how she feels and the two at long last consummate their relationship.

For Castle fans, this is truly a monumental episode. Every seed that had been planted in previous seasons comes to fruition with this finale. The emotional weight of Castle and Beckett’s relationship is examined, explored, and strengthened by the trials the two of them deal with over the course of the episode.

It is easy to see that the writers took their time deciding how to design the finale in a way that kept the tension between all of the characters and resolved four years’ worth of sexual chemistry. The show’s creator, Andrew W. Marlowe, has long debated the so-called “Moonlighting Curse”, aka the failure of a show after two characters with sexual tension finally sleep together, and this episode proves that he does not fear for Castle’s success now that Beckett and Castle have come to terms with their feelings for one another.

The writing is superb, as always with this show, but Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic honestly deserve a standing ovation for their parts in this finale. Fillion does a magnificent job of being outraged at Kate’s stubborn refusal to save her own life while still conveying just how much he loves her. Likewise, Katic’s passionate portrayal of Kate Beckett truly shines just as brightly as she fights for her life and reevaluates what is important to her.

‘Castle’ is one of the highest rated and widely watched shows on ABC and is expected to be renewed and premiere season five in mid-September of 2012. Be there.

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The cast of ABC’s smash hit ‘Castle’ visited the Paley Center in Beverly Hills on March 9, 2012 for a fun filled Q&A. Moderated by William Keck, the cast and the show’s creator Andrew Marlowe merrily entertained their fans with hilarious anecdotes and delicious tidbits about upcoming events in the current season.

The attendees included Nathan Fillion, who plays the charming novelist Richard Castle; Stana Katic, who plays the luscious homicide detective Kate Beckett; Molly C. Quinn, who plays Castle’s down to earth teenage daughter Alexis; Susan Sullivan, who plays Castle’s dramatic but loving mother Martha; Jon Huertas, who plays the spicy Detective Javier Esposito;

Seamus Dever, who plays the adorable counterpart Detective Kevin Ryan; Tamala Jones, who plays the sassy coroner and Kate Beckett’s best friend Lanie Parish; Penny Johnson Jerald, who plays the hard edged new Captain Victoria Gates; and creator/writer Andrew Marlowe.

The panel started off with a special screening of an upcoming episode, “A Dance with Death,” which premieres on ABC March 19, 2012, and then Keck brought the stars out to start the Q&A.

One of the best things about ‘Castle’ is the chemistry between each of the actors and actresses. The show has picked people with vastly different backgrounds—from soap opera actors like Susan Sullivan and Nathan Fillion in his earliest role to the U.S. Air Force like Jon Huertas—and the writers have the ability to mix them together in the most interesting ways. They are a tightly knit group both on and off screen and the panel exposed the quirky relationships the actors have built in their four seasons working on the show.

Moderator William Keck brought a very relaxed air to the room that made the questions even more fun for the cast to answer. He nudged Andrew Marlowe for tidbits about upcoming episodes and the creator cheerfully gave him a few cryptic answers.

Marlowe revealed the title for Richard Castle’s next book—“Frozen Heat”—and that it would be hitting real bookshelves later this year. Richard Castle’s novels are in fact actual novels written by a mysterious ghostwriter and have landed on the New York Times’ Best Sellers more than once. So far, there have been three released—“Heat Wave”, “Naked Heat”, and “Heat Rises”—with the fourth coming in 2012.

He went on to say that there are plans to dive into the Derrick Storm world again. Storm was Richard Castle’s first character and his claim to fame before he eventually grew tired of him by the first episode of the show.

Marlowe also mentioned that Castle might start digging into finding out about his missing father. His mother Martha had many lovers around the time he was born and so he never knew who his father was until a Russian double agent dropped a potential clue that Castle Sr. might work for the CIA.

Marlowe continued on to say that by the end of the season, they would once again touch on the deadly case of Johanna Beckett’s murder, which will throw Castle and Beckett back into the chaos they have previously faced.

The questions Keck gave the cast members were varied and excellent. He started by having them read a shortened version of the script from the season four episode “The Blue Butterfly”, which was a shout out to film noir 1940’s classics. The cast engaged in the reading with plenty of gusto, funny accents, and even a demonstration of a deleted fight scene between Seamus, Nathan, and Jon.

Jon and Seamus revealed that they liked to play pranks, and once scared Nathan Fillion half to death in an old abandoned basement in California. Tamala Jones revealed that while her character Lanie is interested in Det. Esposito, she had no trouble kissing Nathan Fillion in “The Blue Butterfly” as part of her cover and hilariously compared his lips to “waves of satin”, which Seamus Dever then confirmed.

Other funny moments came up when Keck asked about Stana and Nathan being handcuffed together for the season four episode “Cuffed”, which Stana replied was “salacious” much to the crowd’s delight.

Keck asked the newest cast member, Penny Johnson Jerald, about if it was difficult to play a rather cold boss who doesn’t quite care for Castle and she expressed her enjoyment of giving Nathan Fillion a hard time, which he cheerfully confirmed.

Keck also talked about some personal thoughts about Susan and Molly’s characters as Richard Castle’s family members. Both were very happy to share how they felt about the progression of the romance and the challenges they faced in the upcoming episodes.

Another great thing about the panel is that it was streamed live on livestream.com for those who were unable to attend. Fans from all over the world gathered to watch and chat about the questions, answers, and reactions from other fans. It was rare opportunity for the cast, crew, and fans of the show to come together to enjoy their work and discover new things about each other.

‘Castle’ premieres Mondays at 10:00pm EST and will return March 19, 2012 with a new episode.

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Fans of ‘Firefly’ (2002), rejoice! ABC recently announced that Adam Baldwin will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of ‘Castle’ (2009), starring Nathan Fillion as the titular Castle. The even better news is that Baldwin will allegedly be playing a roughneck cop named Ethan Slaughter, who teaches Castle the darker side of being in the police, which may be a callback to his famous role as Jayne Cobb on Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly.’

For those who may not be in the loop, ‘Castle’ is a procedural cop dramedy about a handsome, charming, successful novelist named Richard Castle, who grows bored with his bestselling novels and kills off his main character. Incidentally, a murderer starts staging homicide victims in the manner that they are killed in his books, and Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) comes looking to Castle for answers.

Castle is instantly smitten with her and decides to base his next set of novels on her, creating the character Nikki Heat. His friendship with the New York City mayor allows him access to tag along with the gorgeous, but no-nonsense, Detective Beckett. As they solve the case, he becomes increasingly more interested in her romantically, and the job shadowing becomes more permanent. Here is a brief recap of the series so far.

Spoiler Alert!

In season one, Beckett and Castle constantly butt heads because he is open and flirtatious, while she is reserved and takes her job seriously. However, as time progresses, Beckett gets less defensive around him when she realizes his extensive knowledge of criminology and his ability to weave theories is actually useful.

Things start to go more smoothly until Castle digs into Beckett’s personal life and finds out that her mother was brutally murdered in an unsolved case, which is what drove Beckett to become a detective. He starts trying to solve the case himself, angering Beckett and causing her to not want him around.

In season two, Castle works his way back into Beckett’s good graces after apologizing for invading her privacy, and the two begin anew. Beckett becomes much more open to flirting with Castle on occasion while still keeping their relationship on a friendship and partnership level. The tension stretches as Beckett becomes romantically involved with another detective at her precinct, and Castle feels scorned.

At the end of the season, Castle decides to head to the Hamptons to write his next novel, and Beckett realizes her feelings for him, but just before she can tell him, he gets back with his ex-wife and leaves Beckett heartbroken over the summer.

In season three, Castle has yet to contact Beckett about shadowing her again, and the two bump into each other at the most unlikely scene: a murder, with Castle as the main suspect. Beckett is still angry and frustrated that he left and hooked up with his ex-wife and wants nothing to do with Castle, but after he apologizes and helps her solve the murder, she takes him back.

It is in this season that the most character development occurs between the dynamic crime-solving duo. Beckett is much more comfortable with letting Castle in on her personal life and her dark background, and Castle becomes much more mature and helpful than in previous seasons.

They share an intense kiss while working a case related to her mother’s death and seem to be getting closer to being a couple. However, Beckett gets shot at the end of the season by a shadowy organization who does not want her and Castle looking into her mother’s murder. Castle confesses his love to her just before she passes out, bleeding in his arms.

In season four, the currently airing season, Beckett recovers from the gunshot with the help of Castle and her friends at the precinct. She claims to have amnesia from the event, thus putting Castle in an awkward place about his confession of love, but in actuality, she does remember.

Beckett states that she cannot truly be in love with someone until her mother’s murder is solved, and Castle reluctantly agrees to stay with her and work through it one step at a time. The two have pretty much become a couple in denial ever since—growing jealous when someone flirts with their partner, going out on lunch dates, inviting each other over for dinner, spending time with their families, and holding hands on several occasions.

Adam Baldwin, who recently starred in ABC’s ‘Chuck’ (2007), will slip right into the action-packed season four with no problem as he has excellent chemistry with Nathan Fillion, both on-screen and off-screen. The cast members of ‘Firefly’ are all still good friends and stay in contact with each other both in real life and on Twitter.

Baldwin played Jayne Cobb, the aggressive, tough, but not too bright muscle, on Joss Whedon’s magnum opus ‘Firefly,’ while Fillion played the harsh, but ultimately caring, Captain Malcolm Reynolds. The two characters often butted heads because Jayne was not a fan of how the captain ran things, but knew he would be outmatched if he ever challenged his authority (see: “Ariel”). Unfortunately, the show was cancelled before the dynamic could be further explored, but the relationship between the two shows the talents of both actors.

Baldwin’s guest appearance is set for later this spring. ‘Firefly’ fans hope it will not be the last cameo of the Serenity crew on ‘Castle’ and patiently wait to see if someone else will get the chance to reunite with their captain.

Image Courtesy of  Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

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