Frozen Heat proves Castle and Beckett can work as a couple

An Nicholson — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:00:39 +0000

Disproving the Moonlighting curse, Castle’s season premiere and the latest Nikki Heat novel show that Castle and Beckett do work well together while also dealing with the mystery of Beckett’s mother.

I’ve enjoyed reading the Nikki Heat novels, especially the September-released novel, Frozen Heat. The biggest question on my mind all summer long surrounded what would happen if Castle and Beckett ever got together? Could they maintain the friendship, the humor and the mystery? According to the novels and the season premiere, yes.

The Heat novels are essentially Castle, but without the superficial crime or Rick Castle’s man-child humor. Each novel reflects the show’s darker tone while incorporating the existing characters. The streetwise, brilliantly ambitious Nikki Heat is clearly Beckett. Detective Ochoa and Detective Raley, AKA the combined Detective “Roach”, are Esposito and Ryan. The former of whom dates the department’s coroner. Jameson Rook is Castle, except he’s less of a man-boy who Beckett introduces to street crime. As an award-winning investigative reporter who delved into multiple gritty crimes, he utterly respects Beckett as a cop, lets her solve crimes, but also supports her on the side.

Frozen Heat covertly parallels the Castle season premiere, be it deliberate or unintentional. A frozen body is found stuffed inside a suitcase which relates to the unsolved death of Nikki Heat’s mother which takes her from

Paris to Manhattan and back again. Although the resolution of Heat’s mother’s murder greatly differed from the season premiere, the one thing that coalesced between the novel and the show surrounded the relationship between Heat and Rook AKA Beckett and Castle.

Last season I was pissed with Castle. His childish behavior in ignoring Beckett, treating the department like a secondary interest (after they treated him as part of the team), demanding Beckett NOT act like a cop (i.e. ignore her gut instincts about his friends), and always pushing himself into her investigation when he didn’t contribute (i.e. let him walk first into danger), ticked me off. However, reading Heat Rises and Frozen Heat, seeing how Rook supported Heat, urged her on, and contributed to her cases, while working within her boundaries, made me wonder if Castle and Beckett could ever do that.

The season premiere avoids pulling a Moonlighting and even a Bones.

Then, the season premiere happened and it was everything I hoped for. We see Castle and Beckett work well together. We see the humor. We see the synchronicity. We see Castle shine, but we also see him support Kate and not convince her to avoid danger. The season premiere avoids pulling a Moonlighting and even a Bones. The relationship doesn’t take precedence over the mystery or at the expense of other characters. I love that Ryan and Esposito were like Guildencrantz and Rosenstern in season one which grew to an inseparable friendship in season two. But, in this season’s premiere, Javier continues to grow more hardcore while Ryan morphs into a good boy. They’re both loyal cops; but, one to his friends and the other to procedure.

I read the Castle novels to re-visit my favorite characters and catch a glimpse into Beckett’s interiority. I felt that Frozen Heat nicely complimented the season premiere, despite investigating an entirely different tangent. And, while they don’t have the laugh out loud humor of the Castle TV show they are addictive in their own right.

I wish we knew the names of the person/people writing the series to read his/her other work.

However, remember the novels are standalone from the show and reflect the grittier tone portrayed in more recent Castle episodes. While Beckett and Castle live in a world where their fellow NYPD officers are efficient and loyal, Heat and Rook live in a department where Monty’s replacement isn’t quite as awesome and office mates outside the “family” aren’t quite as loyal. So, don’t read the novels for Castle’s jokey humor. If you want that, check out Brian Michael Bendis’ Deadly Storm surrounding Derrick Storm. That’s the novel I always believed Rick Castle would write. It incorporates his humor, the little boy image of a down and out detective but also a minor foray into the spy world with Clara Strike. The Nikki Heat novels are more what I’d expect James Patterson to write, which is why I wish we knew the names of the person/people writing the series to read his/her other work.

Either way, the Nikki Heat novels, especially the most recent, portrays a world where Heat and Rook (aka Beckett and Castle) struggle as a couple, but work well together as lovers and partners. It looks like the Castle TV show is following that tangent, by keeping the two real, without allowing the relationship to overrule the mystery. I like that. I look forward to more Castle episodes and more Nikki Heat novels.

Trust me, they’re to die for.

Hyperion Publishing released Frozen Heat in hardcover on September 11, 2012. It’s currently available through Amazon for 17.47. For more on Hyperion, check out their Facebook page.

Check out Castle’s season premiere on Hulu.

This review based on a complimentary copy provided to CliqueClack by Hyperion Publishing.

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Photo Credit: ABC, Hyperion

CliqueClack » Frozen Heat

Frozen Heat proves Castle and Beckett can work as a couple