Book 1 (of 52) – A Bloody Storm

A Bloody Storm – Richard Castle

The third, and final, installment of the trilogy returning Derrick Storm from the dead finds Richard Castle’s hero leading a team of fellow ghosted CIA operatives to rescue FBI agent April Showers and find the gold stolen from the Communist party and hidden by the KGB.  By the end of the mission, Storm learns who betrayed him in Tangiers and that the gold is still out there, waiting to be found.

This novella wraps up the story started in A Brewing Storm.  While I get the impetus to split the story into thirds and release them individually, it would have worked better as one whole tale, with the necessary repetition removed and replaced with more action.  At the time, though, there was no way of knowing how much of an audience there was for a Richard Castle novel that was not a more-direct tie-in to Castle.  Enough of one for a full length novel, Storm Front, to be released the following year.

Book 29 (of 52) – A Brewing Storm

A Brewing Storm – Richard Castle

Before Nikki Heat, there was Derrick Storm, Richard Castle’s suave spy who starred in a series of novels but was killed off prior to the first season of Castle.  In this novella, part 1 of a 3 part story, Storm is brought back to the CIA, having faked his own death 4 years prior.  The step-son of a powerful senator has been kidnapped, and the CIA needs someone they can trust to bring him back alive.

This eBook, clocking in at 83 pages, tells the first part of what looks to be an intriguing longer story.  There have been subsequent full length Derrick Storm novels released, and he looks to be tying in to the Nikki Heat series based on the ending to High Heat, so this isn’t my first exposure to the character.  But it is nice to see how the ghost writer posing as Richard Castle decided to bring back the long-dead star.  I had originally purchased just this first entry so I could see if it was worth it.  After finishing it today, I bought the final two installments.