Tag / Tom Straw

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Prolific Authors – Fifteen Books

It is time once again to take a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, I’m once again on pace to set a new record for books read in a year, so I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August of this year. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 1xx books, so there should be some movement over the past two years.  Without further ado, it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much over the years.  We continue today the lone author I’ve read fifteen times, who just so happens to be a fictional character.

Richard Castle

Debuting in 2009, the television series Castle follows the lives of Richard Castle, a best-selling novelist, and Kate Beckett, a New York homicide detective, as they solve various unusual murders.  As Castle, portrayed by Nathan Fillion, wrote and released Nikki Heat novels on the show, those novels were released in the real world as well, the first of which, Heat Wave, was released in 2009.  The two most recent efforts, Heat Storm and Crashing Heat, were released after the cancellation of the show, though it appears unlikely that there will be any future installments.

Richard Castle – Driving Heat

The first seven books in the series were eventually revealed to have been ghost-written by Tom Straw. It is unknown if Straw wrote the final entries, though I highly doubt he was responsible for the last one, which had a much different feel to it.

 

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Prolific Authors – 15 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through October. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 118 books, so there could be some movement over the past two years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we continue with the two authors I’ve read fifteen times, up one from 2021.

Richard Castle

Debuting in 2009, the television series Castle follows the lives of Richard Castle, a best-selling novelist, and Kate Beckett, a New York homicide detective, as they solve various unusual murders.  As Castle, portrayed by Nathan Fillion, wrote and released Nikki Heat novels on the show, those novels were released in the real world as well, the first of which, Heat Wave, was released in 2009.  The two most recent efforts, Heat Storm and Crashing Heat, were released after the cancellation of the show, though it appears unlikely that there will be any future installments.

Frozen Heat – Richard Castle

The first seven books in the series were eventually revealed to have been ghost-written by Tom Straw.  It is unknown if Straw wrote the final entries, though I highly doubt he was responsible for the last one, which had a much different feel to it.

Stephen King

I first read King’s work during my freshman year of high school.  In fact, I remember reading Pet Sematary after finishing my Biology final at the end of freshman year, waiting for the class to be dismissed.  My total reached nine novels by 1993, but then college and other pursuits got in the way and King fell out of my favor.

Joyland – Stephen King

That changed in 2012, when the release of 11/22/63 brought me back in to the King fold.  I’ve added six of his more current work, half of which has been through the Hard Case Crime imprint, which limited, but did not completely remove, the horror elements.

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Prolific Authors – 15 Books

Way back in December of 2011 (and again every other December since), we’ve taken a look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  This year, since I’ve far surpassed my reading output of any year on record, I thought it would be nice to take a deeper dive into those books I’ve read through August. Since our last check-in, I’ve read an additional 60 books from 54 different authors. There shouldn’t be much movement over the past 2 years, but it’s time to take another look and see if my “favorite” authors have changed much in that time span.  Today, we have our penultimate entry, with the fake television author I’ve read 15 times.

Richard Castle

Debuting in 2009, Castle follows the lives of Richard Castle, a best-selling novelist, and Kate Beckett, a New York homicide detective, as they solve various unusual crimes.  As Castle, portrayed by Nathan Fillion, wrote and released Nikki Heat novels on the show, those novels were released in the real world as well, the first of which, Heat Wave, was released in 2009.  The two most recent efforts, Heat Storm and Crasing Heat, were released after the cancellation of the show, though it appears unlikely that there will be any future installments.

Heat Storm – Richard Castle

The first seven books in the series were eventually revealed to have been ghost-written by Tom Straw.  It is unknown if Straw wrote the final entries, though I highly doubt he was responsible for the last one, which even I could tell had a different feel to it.

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Book 23 (of 52) – Buzz Killer

Buzz Killer – Tom Straw

When a thief gets charged with murdering his partner, he turns to his defense lawyer for help.  When she teams up with an ex-cop-turned-journalist, she finds that this case has more entanglements than she initially bargained for.  The deeper she digs, the less it becomes about getting her client off and more about saving her own life.

Tom Straw has written quite a few novels prior to Buzz Killer, most under the pen name of Richard Castle.  Now that the show is over and (I assume) those novels have come to an end, Straw released the first work under his own name in over a decade.  While it doesn’t have the built-in appeal of the Castle tie-ins (although there is one sly nod in there somewhere), Straw does a good job of drawing the reader in and making them invest in the investigation.  I’m sure if Straw were to release another offering, especially if it featured the same characters, I’d find a way to acquire said offering.