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bookishdutchie's review against another edition
Abandoned on page 180. Not a fan of this one.
raptorimperator's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the Nikki Heat books, but a fun read for CASTLE fans, especially with all the references to the show scattered throughout the book.
dgignac's review against another edition
3.0
A fun, fast-paced read. You can't take these books too seriously. However, they are a lot of fun. This one had some name dropping from the TV show (Roy Montgomery) and also a guest appearance from Niki Heat and Rook.
raechsreads's review against another edition
4.0
Derrick Storm is back to find the person, or persons, responsible for torturing and killing important men in the finance world. I was on the edge of my seat reading with a ferocious need to know what would happen next. A sign that a novel has so engrossed me - I try to solve the case after each new fact is brought forward.
skateanddonate's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the story. The ending/resolution was a bit lame. The editing was horrible. I mean 31+ spell check errors! For example, the word pilot appeared 15 times and EACH time it was displayed as "pi lot." The word particular was displayed as "par tic u lar" the 4 times it was used. Budget was split to "bud get" four times. Pleasure became "plea sure" each time. I mean seriously?! Can't Hollywood even use spell check right?
planetarypan's review against another edition
2.0
I finished the book. My mother would not be proud. She told me to quit awhile ago. However, I stuck it out for no really good reason. But I finished it. That's about the only positive comment my review has.
SPOILER ALERT
1) Manufactured financial crisis story line. Ugh. Please stop writing these and pretending they are thrilling. They aren't. They're boring. So. So. Boring.
2) Unlikeable characters. They are all over the place! I am still finding it hard to believe the trope that claims that Storm is Castle's beloved character and people actually want him back from the dead. If he was supposed to be this type of person in previous works, I certainly would not have read more than the first one. I definitely wouldn't have wished him back. The only really likeable character was the Chinese agent.
3) Lame crossover chapter. So there is a Storm/Heat crossover moment. That might have been okay. What was really awful was having Storm and Rook play the "ruggedly handsome" game on and off for pages. I can see Castle the character making some crack about doing it in the show, but I don't see him doing that in the actual novel. His characters is portrayed as taking his craft mostly seriously when it comes down to it. The Heat novels have a ghost writer that does a better job of capturing what I think of as Castle's voice than this writer does. I accept that Jameson Rook is a Mary Sue for Castle. I don't accept that Derrick Storm is as well.
4) Tribute to Captain Montgomery. Okay. You, ghost writer/producers/whomever, get props for that touch. THAT was something I could see Castle doing. Well played. Doesn't make up for the half-baked novel, though.
SPOILER ALERT
1) Manufactured financial crisis story line. Ugh. Please stop writing these and pretending they are thrilling. They aren't. They're boring. So. So. Boring.
2) Unlikeable characters. They are all over the place! I am still finding it hard to believe the trope that claims that Storm is Castle's beloved character and people actually want him back from the dead. If he was supposed to be this type of person in previous works, I certainly would not have read more than the first one. I definitely wouldn't have wished him back. The only really likeable character was the Chinese agent.
3) Lame crossover chapter. So there is a Storm/Heat crossover moment. That might have been okay. What was really awful was having Storm and Rook play the "ruggedly handsome" game on and off for pages. I can see Castle the character making some crack about doing it in the show, but I don't see him doing that in the actual novel. His characters is portrayed as taking his craft mostly seriously when it comes down to it. The Heat novels have a ghost writer that does a better job of capturing what I think of as Castle's voice than this writer does. I accept that Jameson Rook is a Mary Sue for Castle. I don't accept that Derrick Storm is as well.
4) Tribute to Captain Montgomery. Okay. You, ghost writer/producers/whomever, get props for that touch. THAT was something I could see Castle doing. Well played. Doesn't make up for the half-baked novel, though.
melle's review against another edition
2.0
I have the first three ebooks, but haven't read them yet. I have read all of the Nikki Heat books. The Heat books have a certain camp fun to them that makes them good beach reading. This, on the other hand, is just too over the top with being cheesy and derivative.
ryanjamesburt's review against another edition
4.0
Derrick Storm #1. These are (I think) the books that made Richard Castle famous before the Castle TV show was made. Not quite as enjoyable as the Nikki Heat series but I think that is because it is more distant from the TV show.
Interesting James Bond feel to this book. Derrick Storm is a little too super to be believable. Still fun.
Interesting James Bond feel to this book. Derrick Storm is a little too super to be believable. Still fun.
kazalicious's review against another edition
3.0
Fast paced, easy listening. I was impressed that I didn't hate it, I really expected to.
baronessekat's review against another edition
3.0
For what this book is... a novel written as a tie-in to a TV show, it was not bad. But had I gone into this book not knowing anything about Richard Castle (the supposed author) or the TV show, I would have been incredibly disappointed. And even with my knowledge, had I read this book, rather than listening to the CDs in 10-20 bites in the car, I might not have gotten through it. This book hits pretty much every tired espionage thriller trope there could possibly be and then created a few just because.
Derrick Storm is the ultimate CIA supper agent. It's tall, amazingly handsome and breaks as many rules as he follows. The ultimate Mary-Sue. This time he's called in to help solve a series of murders of 5 high dealing bankers and financial traders around the world. He soon realizes that the perp is his arch nemesis whom he thought had been dead for years. He teams up with a Chinese operative, who speaks perfect accent-free English, is drop dead gorgeous and of course female. I'm not sure how her name is spelled as I was listening to the book, but it is pronounced She-bang (her introduction was the first of many eye-rolls for me). Together they find that the one thing that ties all the victims together is the access to a private currency exchange computer system, and that if 6 access codes are used, it would be possible to bring the United States economy crumbling and make the dark ages look like a high society function. Now they must race to find the 6th person before he is killed and the bad guy uses it to destroy the United States.
Like I said, it was OK. Not something I will be rushing out to read any of the other books in this series, though I did read the first 2 in the related Nikki Heat series.
Derrick Storm is the ultimate CIA supper agent. It's tall, amazingly handsome and breaks as many rules as he follows. The ultimate Mary-Sue. This time he's called in to help solve a series of murders of 5 high dealing bankers and financial traders around the world. He soon realizes that the perp is his arch nemesis whom he thought had been dead for years. He teams up with a Chinese operative, who speaks perfect accent-free English, is drop dead gorgeous and of course female. I'm not sure how her name is spelled as I was listening to the book, but it is pronounced She-bang (her introduction was the first of many eye-rolls for me). Together they find that the one thing that ties all the victims together is the access to a private currency exchange computer system, and that if 6 access codes are used, it would be possible to bring the United States economy crumbling and make the dark ages look like a high society function. Now they must race to find the 6th person before he is killed and the bad guy uses it to destroy the United States.
Like I said, it was OK. Not something I will be rushing out to read any of the other books in this series, though I did read the first 2 in the related Nikki Heat series.