Deadly Heat by Richard Castle

Goodreads Summary:

Picking up where Frozen Heat left off, top NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat pursues the elusive former CIA station chief who ordered the execution of her mother over a decade ago. For the hunt, Nikki teams once again with her romantic partner, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Jameson Rook, and their quest for the old spy and the motive behind the past murder unearths an alarming terror plot-which is anything but ancient history. It is lethal. It is now. And it has already entered its countdown phase.

Complicating Heat's mission to bring the rogue spy to justice and thwart the looming terror event, a serial killer begins menacing the Twentieth Precinct and her homicide squad is under pressure to stop him, and soon. The frightening murderer, known for his chilling stealth, not only has singled out Nikki as the exclusive recipient of his taunting messages, he then boldly names his next victim: Detective Heat.

My thoughts:
As always this was an enjoyable read, just as we can always expect from Richard Castle. My only complaint is this book didn't have the same flow as the others. I was able to guess who and what was going on pretty early in the read. This didn't bother me, as I am not an avid mystery reader but I can imagine that may bug some readers. I am not someone who bothers trying to guess the bad guy so I was able to determine the who and the what without any effort on my part.

That being said, I think really enjoyed this book. It was the perfect escape from the daily grind. I enjoy the storytelling and the advancement of the Heat/ Rook relationship. There was more than one section in the book that made me laugh and there was more than one section that was full of intensity and I was genuinely concerned about Heat.

I recommend this book to fans of the other books or fans of the show, of course. But beyond that I would recommend this book to avid mystery readers, I think this series is strong enough to stand alone without the show as back up.

While writing this review I was listening to Charlie Rose on CBS This Morning.