You know that feeling you get when you’ve overdosed on a particular beloved dessert? That’s the way I feel having read “Richard Castle’s” novel, Heat Wave.  An unapologetic fan of the TV show, Castle, on ABC, I particularly enjoyed the blurring lines between reality/TV/marketing genius in creating a hard copy of the book that is plot central to the show. All the innuendo going on between Richard Castle and Kate Beckett in the TV show is made more intriguing when you read how Richard translates that tension into his novel of NYPD Detective Nikki Heat and her journalist tag-a-long, Jameson Rook (and undisguised copy of Richard Castle.) The layers to the plot between novel and TV show are priceless. And let me just say, reading the book was exactly like following a two-hour season finale episode of the TV show–with some name changes to protect the imaginary. The thing that just makes this brilliant is the marketing biz behind the idea. I can’t imagine that the television  writers planned from day one to introduce a “real” book to coincide with Richard Castle’s novel debuts on the TV show, but I’m sure the sale numbers have replaced any misgivings they might have had about whether an imaginary plot device could translate into real world transactions. And like any traditional book, the “publisher” scored endorsements from James Patterson and Stephen Cannell for the cover–how cool is that?–as if an incentive to read the story was necessary. With this new season’s plot twist related to the movie rights of Heat Wave and Naked Heat, it should prove to be even more entertaining when the feature length film debuts.  I’m quite sure the writer of this novel is the same writer directing the think tank in their plotting sessions at the production studio, but knowing both the show and now reading the novel just makes the illusion all the more fun. Kudos to Castle Writer–whoever you are.