I liked the case in this one, I got quite caught up in it; the book just seemed so long at times. It was nice to rediscover the budding romance between Rook and Heat and I'm sure I'll be back with book four at some point soon.

I had issues keeping up with this book because it started off being a little flat at the beginning. I especially had trouble believing in the credibility of Nikki Heat being roadblocked in her investigation so easily--somehow, I had the distinct feeling that Kate Beckett wouldn't have been cowed so easily like that, even at the expense of pissing off her Captain. Then again, I was also under the impression that Captain Montrose was definitely very un-Montgomery-like in this book and it irked me a little bit.

All that Kate Beckett spunk seemed to have evaporated.

No matter though. It was quite interesting trying to find all the parallels between the book and the television series, even if things didn't seem to fit in quite right.

I liked the previous book more so than I liked Heat Rises, and it could be because the investigation felt stalled in several moments throughout this book. Nevertheless, it's still a vast improvement from the first book in the series, and we get to see more development in the characters, even if they still don't quite compare with the television series' characters.

The murder case was a more conspiratorial one, starting with the death of a priest with connections to an old murder case that was blown off as related to gang violence, and then finally the danger of Nikki Heat being targeted because of her dogged investigation of the murders.

It's fairly standard crime thriller fare, but it had its moments of intrigue and excitement. I'll give it that much.

You can see where this book might have taken a page from Castle with the ending of Season 3. And also, it borrows the idea of a murder being blown off as gang-related violence, via Detective Beckett's mother's murder... which may or may not have more conspiratorial possibilities lingering in the background as well.


Overall: Enjoyable as enjoyable does.

And really, the only reason I decided to even write a sloppy, short thoughts piece for this book was because I wanted to give a shout out to the very brief Firefly reference in the last 25% stretch of this book.  Really, it was only a sentence, but it was there.

And also, there was a scene of dialogue that really tickled my funny bone and had me guffawing... for whatever reason:

"Oh, very cold. Be glad you not have goldfish," he said. "Mrs. Nathan, she have to move her goldfish to Flushing."

Rook said, "Is it me or is there something sad about hearing goldfish and Flushing in the same breath?"

Obviously, I'm easily amused...

I can't quite figure out why I'm more embarrassed to admit that I read weird Cop-show not-really!tie-ins than erotic Three Musketeers-fanfiction with vampires but somehow I am. There was I thinking my time for reading books that are inspired by TV-shows are over but apparently they aren't. 
I enjoy the Nikki Heat books. They have the same humour as the show and were clearly written by someone who knows the canon (both point against Max Allan Collins being behind the pseudonym). Additionally the relationship between Rook and Nikki is refreshingly without 'let's make this drama bigger than it is because we refuse to talk to/listen to each other'. In the first two books the cases were also entertaining enough.
This however is the third book and here the case was...meh. Admittedly I'm not a big fan of major conspiracies in which people higher up than the lead-detective try everything to stop her (or him) from solving the case. Did I say 'not a big fan'? I meant 'hate with a burning passion'. So this book and I weren't really off to a good start and it didn't get better when a certain person turned up with a big flashy neon-sign over their head saying 'I DID IT'

Esta serie ha ido de menos a más, y hasta el momento, este ha sido mi libro favorito de la saga. 

Un cura es encontrado muerto en un local de sadomasoquismo, con signos de tortura. El problema es que a medida que se desarrolla la investigación van saliendo pistas que indicarían que el propio capitán de la Policía (y mentor de Nikki) está metido en cosas raras, y además, que alguien está intentando bloquear la investigación.

Entretenido e intrigante, este tercer libro de Nikki Heat tiene todos los elementos de misterio que le faltaban a los otros, así que cuatro estrellas!

Book 3, in the Nikki Heat series

This series is as entertaining as the TV show “Castle”, one of my weaknesses is that I am a huge fan of both. All three books have been a wonderful read, whoever the real author may be (Richard Castle is a character), he is one that has a knack with words. With his graceful prose he knows how to produce a page-turner that has endless boundaries.

“Heat Wave” is a fun romp through the world of imagination. It pairs the tough and sexy NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat with hotshot reporter Jameson Rook in the most dangerous case so far. It opens with the bizarre murder of a parish priest in a New York bondage club. Through the investigation the book takes us deep into the world of sex and bondage and everything related. 

As usual Nikki’s case becomes even larger than first expected. The writing creatively sends your mind on one red herring after another adding plenty of intrigue and flavor to the story. At one point, clues direct the investigation back to home base were Nikki finds herself caught in the middle creating shock waves for all. Nikki really shows her skills while doing all the legwork from facing down the brass at headquarters to saving her own skin.