Naked Heat »

Richard Castle is the author of numerous bestsellers, including the critically acclaimed Derrick Storm series. His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, published while he was still in college, received the Nom DePlume Society's prestigious Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature. Castle currently lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother, both of whom infuse his life with humor and inspiration.

Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook are together again in Richard Castle's thrilling follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, Heat Wave.

When New York's most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, Heat uncovers a gallery of high profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan.

Heat's murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. In the wake of their recent breakup, Nikki would rather not deal with their raw emotional baggage. But the handsome, wise-cracking Pulitzer Prize-winning writer's personal involvement in the case forces her to team up with Rook anyway. The residue of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on a search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro athletes and shamed politicians.

This new, explosive case brings on the heat in the glittery world of secrets, cover-ups, and scandals.

Publishers Weekly

Fans of the hit ABC-TV series Castle will welcome this highflying and oh-so-sly sequel to Heat Wave from, if one can trust the author photo, the actor Nathan Fillion, who plays mystery novelist Rick Castle on the show. NYPD homicide detective Nikki Heat hates the overexposure that results from the cover story journalist Jameson Rook wrote about her for First Press, a national magazine. But that doesn't stop her from teaming with the charming Jameson to try to solve the stabbing murder of gossip columnist Cassidy Towne, who was to be the subject of another Rook article. The romantic sparks fly as the pair investigate the many enemies Cassidy's "Buzz Rush" column for the New York Star Ledger earned her, including singer-songwriter Soleil Gray, whose drug use has sent the pop star's career into a tailspin. The same comedic sparring that lifts the TV program helps propel this whimsical mix of romance and crime. (Sept.)