Tag / Nathan Fillion

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Streaking Authors

Every other year or so, we take a fresh look at the authors I have read the most, dating back to high school.  I thought it would be interesting to mix it up a bit and, instead of looking at the overall total, to instead look at the authors I have read continuously for the longest period of time.  So, without further ado, it’s time to take a look at which authors have the longest streak of consecutive years read.

Ten

Jeffery Deaver – Thanks mostly to his Lincoln Rhyme series, Deaver put together a streak of ten years with at least one book read by me starting in 2015 with The Vanished Man and ending in 2024 with Fatal Intrusion, his first collaboration with Isabella Maldonado.  After a one-year absence, corresponding with my completing the Rhyme series, he returned in 2026 to hopefully start a new streak.

Nine

Riley Sager – Sager burst onto the scene in 2017 with his first novel, Final Girls.  Every year since, he has put out a new book and I have read it, continuing through last year’s With a Vengeance.  He can extend his streak and tie Deaver for the longest if the library can deliver his latest in the next two months or so.

Karin Slaughter – Another current streak, Slaughter first came across my notice in 2018 thanks to Pretty Girls.  Due in part to her Will Trent and Grant County series, she has showed up at least once every year since, including Girl, Forgotten, which I completed earlier this year.

Eight

Richard Castle – The ghost writer for Richard Castle, the character portrayed by Nathan Fillion in Castle, made appearances in eight straight years, thanks to the novels that were supposedly written in the show, starting in 2010 with Heat Wave and culminating in 2017 with A Bloody Storm.

Six

Sarah Pekkanen – Starting in 2020, with her writing partner Green Hendricks, Pekkanen started her streak with The Wife Between Us.  Her streak outlived the partnership, continuing through last year with The Locked Ward.

Five

Nancy Holder – Thanks to her television show tie-in work, Nancy Holder was able to string together a streak of five years, starting in 1998 with Halloween Rain, based on the adventures of Bully the Vampire Slayer, and finishing in 2002 with The Burning, a collaboration with Jeff Mariotte.

Stephen King – My history with King is long but contains many frequent breaks.  His longest streak, which is current through the end of the year, started in 2021 with Later and runs through last year, when I completed his latest, Never Flinch.

Mary Kubica – The local author first came to my attention in 2015 with The Good Girl.  She appeared at least once annually through 2019, when I completed When the Lights Go Out.

Rebecca Forster – Forster was a constant presence as I worked through her Witness series, beginning in 2021 with Silent Witness and completing last year with Lost Witness.

Alex Finlay – Finlay first landed on my Kindle in 2022, thanks to Every Last Fear.  His streak continues on, thank to this year’s The Anniversary.

Richard Osman – His Thursday Murder Club series has helped him put together a streak of five years, starting in 2022 with The Thursday Murder Club and continuing through 2026 with The Impossible Fortune.

Elin Hilderbrand – We wrap up with Hilderbrand, who also has a current five-year streak going into 2027.  She started in 2022 with The Hotel Nantucket and continued this year with Winter in Paradise.

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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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2018 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

old-tv-set1Continuing our look at the new fall season, here are the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Tuesdays.

7:00

The Conners – Following last spring’s Twitter meltdown by Roseanne Barr and the cancellation of the reboot of Roseanne, the show moves on without her.  Will it be worth watching?  I’m honestly not sure.

The Flash – The gang returns for the fifth season.

The Gifted – The series about Marvel’s mutants returns for a second season.  I still need to finish the first.

8:00

Black-ish – For its fifth season, the show moves on without creator Kenya Barris.

FBI – Missy Peregrym and Jeremy Sisto are FBI agents trying to keep New York safe.

This Is Us – The emotionally manipulative hit is back for a third season, assuming I ever go back and finish the previous one.

Black Lightning – The Pierce family returns for their second season, which I will be happy to watch once I get done with season one.

8:30

Splitting Up Together – After a successful run last spring, the show, starring Oliver Hudson and Jenna Fischer, returns for another go-around.

9:00

The Rookie – Castle alum Nathan Fillion re-teams with his former EP for this tale about the oldest rookie police officer in the LAPD.

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ABC Upfronts

ABC is shaking up their lineup this fall, with changes on every night save Monday and Thursday.  The week gets off to a familiar start with Dancing With The Stars, followed by The Good Doctor.  Roseanne returns for another season to kick off Tuesday nights, followed by The Kids Are Alright, about a traditional Irish-Catholic family navigating the turbulent 70s, then black-ish and Splitting Up Together staying put.  The night ends with The Rookie, bringing Nathan Fillion back to the network in a familiar setting.

Wednesday starts the same, with The Goldbergs, American Housewife, and Modern Family starting the night, followed by Single Parents, a comedy about, well, single parents starring Taran Killam and Leighton Meester.  The night is capped off by A Million Little Things, about a group of Boston friends who re-examine their lives when one of them dies.  Thursdays stay exactly the same, with the three Shondaland shows remaining in place.  A revamped Friday kicks off with the re-located Fresh Off The Boat and Speechless, followed by Child Support and 20/20.  Sunday goes all reality, with a junior edition of DWTS sandwiched between America’s Funniest Home Videos and Shark Tank.  The night ends with The Alec Baldwin Show, the first prime time talk show since the unfortunate attempt to keep Jay Leno happy while Conan O’Brien hosted The Tonight Show.

Agents of SHIELD will return in summer of 2019, and American Idol and For The People will return at some point.  Also on the bench for mid-season are The Fix, a legal drama from Marcia Clark starring Robin Tunney, Grand Hotel, from executive producer Eva Longoria, and Whiskey Cavalier, about a partnership of FBI and CIA agents played by Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan.  The one comedy is Schooled, a spin-off of The Goldbergs.

Cancelled shows never to be seen again are Alex Inc., The Crossing, Deception, Designated Survivor, Downward Dog, The Great American Baking Show, Kevin (Probably) Saves The World, Inhumans, The Mayor, The Middle, Once Upon A Time, Quantico, Scandal, Somewhere Between, Still Star-Crossed, and Ten Days In The Valley.

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Book 25 (of 52) – High Heat

high-heat

High Heat – Richard Castle

While Castle may have come to an end this spring, the novels supposedly written by Nathan Fillion’s character continue on.  In High Heat, the latest effort from Richard Castle, the murder of a journalist as part of a supposed jihad sets Nikki Heat and her detective squad on a case that puts Jameson Rook’s life at risk.

While the plot of the novel was fine, there were 2 things that bothered me.  First, the ending incorporated one of the things that everyone hated about the last season of Castle, a forced breakup of the main characters for contrived reasons.  Second, while the series of Nikki Heat novels has always included a few nudges and winks towards the show, this book leaves the winks behind and instead pulls out a sledgehammer to make sure you notice those in-jokes.  Beyond those two complaints, the book was enjoyable and the cliffhanger ending would lead one to believe there will be another installment.

by jim

Post Mortem – Castle

castleAfter 8 seasons, ABC decided to put Castle out to pasture.  Given the expected change in direction for the potential 9th season, with Stana Katic and Tamala Jones written off the show, it is perhaps for the best.  I assume this will also be the end of the road for the Richard Castle novels, which had been a mainstay of my bookshelf over the past few years.

I assume Nathan Fillion and Katic will show up on my screen, either big or small, sooner rather than later.

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Book 26 (of 52) – Driving Heat

Richard Castle - Driving Heat

Driving Heat – Richard Castle

The latest Nikki Heat novel, from the Nathan Fillion-portrayed author from the television show Castle, arrives with Heat taking over as captain of her precinct, just as Kate Beckett, as played by Stana Katic, has on the show.  She teams once again with Jameson Rook, now her fiance, to figure out who is killing a group of whistle blowers and the NYPD shrink.  After the case is solved, Heat and Rook get married, just as Castle and Beckett did.

As usual, Castle, or the mystery writer using the television character as a pen name, delivers an entertaining tale for fans of the television series.  I don’t know how much one would get out of these novels if you didn’t also enjoy the show, as there are a lot of in-jokes and allusions to the characters and actors, but it is a fun trip for those who do like the show.  I’m not sure if there will be more in this series, as the show’s ratings aren’t stellar in its 8th season, so this may have been the swan song for Mr. Castle.  If so, he’s gone out on a high note.

by jim

Book 16 (of 52) – Deadly Heat

Deadly Heat - Richard Castle

Deadly Heat – Richard Castle

The latest novel from Richard Castle, played as always by Nathan Fillion on the show Castle, picks up right after the previous one, with Nikki Heat learning the identity of her mother’s murderer but not knowing why she was killed.  In this followup, Heat, the novel version of Stana Katic’s Kate Beckett character, gets the closure she has been looking for while tracking down a serial killer that has targeted her.

These novels have been an intriguing marketing tool for the television show, as they are written by the character and featured in the show’s narrative.  It would be easy for these to be trashy, but someone is obviously trying to put out a product worthy of the best selling author.  One can only hope that the story of Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook hasn’t ended with the closure of Heat’s mother’s case.