tumarati's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mewsie's review
3.0
After the drive-by killing of crime boss Kurt Wallace, a war between the many gangs of Miami began to vie for control of the Miami's underworld. Soon each gang becomes a victim to an attack, only to turn around and kill out of revenge, leading to the city becoming a bloodbath. Soon after this all starts, a DEA hotshot, Jeremy Burnett, is wounded and his wife killed in drive-by identical to the murder of Wallace, bringing the Feds into the picture as well. Lieutenant Horatio Caine and his CSI team are trying to solve the mystery behind the Wallace murder because they believe that once they find out who started the gang war, they can bring an end to it. On top of this, this all has to be done before the Governor is forced to bring in the National Guard to stop the gang war.
One thing I like about Collins' CSI books is that they aren't based on a specific episode of CSI (like you find with other novelizations of TV series) but are stand alone books. It was nice being able to relate to the main characters of the book since I am familiar with the show, but I honestly got very confused with all the different gangs and their leaders, and who was involved with what that I almost had to start taking notes. Unless an author is generous enough to put in a separate listing of cast of characters, I'm not too thrilled when a book gets like this. Other than that, it was an enjoyable, easy read and well worth putting on a summer reading list.
One thing I like about Collins' CSI books is that they aren't based on a specific episode of CSI (like you find with other novelizations of TV series) but are stand alone books. It was nice being able to relate to the main characters of the book since I am familiar with the show, but I honestly got very confused with all the different gangs and their leaders, and who was involved with what that I almost had to start taking notes. Unless an author is generous enough to put in a separate listing of cast of characters, I'm not too thrilled when a book gets like this. Other than that, it was an enjoyable, easy read and well worth putting on a summer reading list.
fat_girl_fiction's review
3.0
Heat Wave by Max Allan Collins
I'm a massive fan of CSI, even if CSI:Miami is my least favourite, so when I realised there were accompanying books I leapt at the chance. Collins knows what the characters are like and how they speak. It's evident he's researched the show. It was great reading new stories about some of my favourite characters. Overall, they're a good, easy read that require practically no imagination because you already know the people and their history.
I'm a massive fan of CSI, even if CSI:Miami is my least favourite, so when I realised there were accompanying books I leapt at the chance. Collins knows what the characters are like and how they speak. It's evident he's researched the show. It was great reading new stories about some of my favourite characters. Overall, they're a good, easy read that require practically no imagination because you already know the people and their history.
nicaelafox's review
4.0
Enjoyed this as a second-time read. The author definitely did his homework and really seemed to keep the book characters close to the TV series ones that this is based off of. It was also good to have Tim Speedle's character in it--probably one of the reasons I felt like a re-read (always really liked his character in the show). It had been long enough since the first time that I had forgotten the "who-dunnit" too.
(first finished on Oct 26, 2009)
(first finished on Oct 26, 2009)
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