Frozen Heat by Richard Castle

FROZEN HEAT
By Richard Castle
Copyright ABC Studios
Published by Hyperion


Genre: Crime Drama


In book four of the series, we’re getting in deep. The body of an unidentified woman has been found stuffed inside a suitcase, and left in a freezer truck. An unusual case, but a clue ties the murder to the shocking, unsolved murder of Heat’s mother, ten years ago. The cold case is reopened, and Heat’s crew works the murders together. Solving one has a chance of solving them both.

Someone seems to think that Heat knows too much, and targets her for the kill. Nikki must delve into her painful past for answers, while fighting to stay alive. How many of her friends will die before she finds the killer? Or will he find her first?

This book reveals a lot of what makes Heat who she is. Her character is fully fleshed out, and we want to solve her mother’s murder as much as she does. We want to bring some closure to this strong, tortured woman. We care.

Nikki Heat leads a wild, exciting, passionate life. We are lucky that we get to come along for the ride.


Book received from the publisher for my unbiased review.

HEAT RISES by Richard Castle

HEAT RISES
By Richard Castle
Copyright ABC Studios
Published by Hyperion

Genre: Crime Drama

The third book in the Nikki Heat series. A priest is found tortured and murdered…in a bondage club. What was he doing there, and who was he with? Most of all, why?

This is a puzzling case, but Nikki is distracted. Rook has been away on assignment, unable to contact her. Or is he unwilling? The tabloids show him at a hotel with a stunning woman. And still, Heat’s phone doesn’t ring.

Captain Montrose, Nikki’s boss and mentor, is behaving strangely. He appears to have secret knowledge about the priest’s case, but he isn’t sharing. Then he gives Nikki orders that steer her away from answers in the case. What is he hiding?

More bodies pile up, and someone is following Heat. Is it connected to the case, or is something else going on?

By this point in the series, the characters are well-developed enough that we can easily separate them from the TV series characters. There are still many parallels between the two. Heat and Beckett may be sisters in blue, but they are very different people. Since Heat’s cases don’t have to be solved in 45 minutes, they twist and turn and run off in false directions much more than Beckett’s do. Which makes them even more satisfying to solve.


Book borrowed from the Indiana Free Library, Indiana PA.

NAKED HEAT by Richard Castle

NAKED HEAT
By Richard Castle
Copyright ABC Studios
Published by Hyperion

Genre: Crime Drama

Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook broke up. The murder of a muck-racking gossip columnist brings them back together…on the job.

The back-stabbing gossip columnist was stabbed in the back. Fitting, but Nikki has to find out who did it. Before she can, someone steals the body. Against her will, Nikki admits she needs Rook’s connections to figure this one out. And Rook has some interesting connections in the underworld.

Bodies pile up. A star athlete with a grudge and a stalker, an estranged daughter for the columnist, and a cowboy who likes to carve people up. When the cowboy traps Rook and Heat in Rook’s apartment and tries to practice his skills on them, it become very personal.

Then a young pop singer is pulled into the mix. What happens to her is hard for Nikki to handle, but the case moves on.

An old boyfriend of Nikki’s comes back into the picture. Does Petar have something to do with the murders? Or is he the solution to Nikki’s attraction to Rook?

Another twisting, turning murder investigation. Nothing is ever simple in Heat’s life. If it was, why would we keep reading? But you will keep reading, because you have to know how it turns out.


Book purchased from Book of the Month Club. Review by Audrey Shaffer.

Review - Shadow of Betrayal by Brett Battles

Shadow of Betrayal
Written by: Brett Battles
Fiction / International thriller
Rated: Excellent (*****)
Review by: Lisa Haselton

Jonathan Quinn is back on the scene. This time he’s doing three contracts with no questions asked for one of his past clients. The premise sets the tone, doesn’t it? If someone can get a no-questions-asked promise from you, you know the tasks won’t be easy. And they certainly aren’t for Quinn.

Quinn is back to work in Shadow of Betrayal. His apprentice, Nate is ready and willing to do whatever needs done, but Quinn harbors guilt and struggles with having Nate on the job. When Orlando is able to join the duo, Quinn wants some time off to enjoy time with his woman, but that would be too easy. Quinn is a professional “cleaner,” and he has a contract to fulfill. The job comes first.

It pays to have connections and technology to sift through data and find answers, but sometimes being able to do a good job comes down to old-fashioned investigation, observation, and following your gut. Jonathan Quinn is intelligent, crafty, and conscientious about everything he does.

Author Brett Battles pays attention to the details and writes stories that keep his audience engaged. His ability to make the reader care about the readers is remarkable. It’s as though the reader is on the characters’ shoulders every minute of every scene. The fast pace of the circumstances makes for a lot happening in a short time, but Battles keeps the reader focused every step of the way. Battles has crafted a team of characters each with their own lives, yet when they are focused on their work, they are a cohesive team. The writing is detailed without wasting a word.

This is Battles' third Jonathan Quinn novel. The first novel, The Cleaner, was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First Novel in 2008. The second in the series, The Deceived, won the Barry Award for Best Thriller 2008. The paperback of Shadow of Betrayal released May 25. The next in the series will give the reader a glimpse into Quinn before he became “the cleaner.” Stay tuned!

Brett Battles writes full time from cafés across the globe, but mostly near his home in California. He’s currently putting the finishing touches a middle grade book. He has a standalone novel, unrelated to the Quinn series, No Return, due out in April 2011.

If you love thrillers, have a penchant for James Bond’s international travels, or enjoy a story that gets the adrenaline pumping, Shadow of Betrayal is a must read. It is non-stop action on every page. Once you start reading, don’t plan to stop until the last page.


Title: Shadow of Betrayal
Author: Brett Battles
Publisher: Bantam Dell
ISBN: 978-0-440-24372-4
Pages: 498
Price: $7.99

Review - The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything) by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

Dr. Barbara will be a live chat guest at The Writer's Chatroom on Sunday, January 10 from 7-9PM EST. Please feel free to stop in and meet her.

The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything)
Written by: Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Readers 9-12
Rated: Excellent (*****)
Review by: Lisa Haselton

The Truth is a glimpse into the diary and thoughts of a girl who is ten at the start of the story. We follow her through two school years and get a candid look at a ‘tween’s perspective of life.
Everyone can remember feeling that we knew more than our parents when we were kids.

In The Truth, the narrator gives us her opinion on falling in love, the damage done when parents argue, and her fears about getting older. She does so in a sincere and straightforward matter. She makes a list of truths that she wants to remember as she gets older because she fears aging has a negative effect. She knows adults must know the truths but that they somehow forgot, for how else can they possibly accept yelling at each other.

The unique voice along with the diary entry format make the book a quick read. It has an educational value which should be shared with all young girls and parents. The entries are direct and honest. The reader feels privy to the secret diary of the girl whose writing is personal, accessible. The observations made within the diary follow a natural progression of personal growth, which makes it feel more like non-fiction than fiction.

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein is the originator of The Enchanted Self(R). She has been a positive psychologist in private practice and licensed in the states of New Jersey and Massachusetts since 1981. She is currently in private practice in Long Branch, New Jersey with her husband, Dr. Russell M. Holstein.

I highly recommend reading The Truth. It is great for women of any age, and can definitely be appreciated by tweens and teens. It’s interesting to have memories of the tween years conjured up that are a mixture of enjoyable and hard to deal with.

Title: The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything)
Author: Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Publisher: Enchanted Self Press
ISBN: 978-09798952-0-3
Pages: 96
Price: $6.95