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In a fall 2009 episode of the ABC Network television show Castle, Richard Castle’s book Heat Wave was an instant best seller. The episode even included a book signing. Now there is a real world book Heat Wave written by none other that Richard Castle and it also has been a big hit making the top ten list of both the Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times Best Sellers Lists.
In the book Heat Wave Jameson Rook has been given permission to shadow detective Nicki Heat’s Homicide team in order to write a story about the NYPD in general and Nicki Heat in particular for a magazine. In the middle of one of New York’s worst heat waves real estate tycoon, Matthew Starr, is murdered, pushed off the 6th floor balcony to the street below. As the investigation builds, Matthew Starr’s much younger trophy wife is also attacked. Then Starr’s collection of valuable artwork disappears during a blackout. When other people associated with Matthew Starr begin turning up dead, Nicki Heat follows the clues through every twist and turn all the while being shadowed by Jameson Rook. The book parallels the television show. In the television show Richard Castle follows Detective Kate Beckett and is using her for a model to write about the character of Nicki Heat in the book he is writing (Heat Wave). In the book Jameson follows Nicki Heat to write an article for a magazine. The book is a fun read with jokes and banters between the characters. There is not only the mystery of who is behind the murders and deceit; there is also the greatest mystery – who actually is the author of Heat Wave? Marie Coolman of Hyperion Books states “the author has appeared on an episode of Castle.” So the list of possible authors includes James Patterson, Stephen J. Cannell, or Michael Connelly. However, the reader is left to his own opinion. Just who is the author or has the book been written by a combination of two or more authors?
Just as Noah didn’t need a compass to navigate through the flood waters, 61 year-old Liam Pennywell in the book Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler doesn’t feel he needs a compass to guide him, because he is not headed anywhere. After he is forced into early retirement from his teaching job at St. Defrig, a private boy’s school, he feels he is merely headed to the final stage of his life. Just as he was forced to retire because of downsizing, Liam decides to downsize his life. He moves to a smaller (one bedroom, plus a den) apartment. This means paring down his possessions, so volumes are tossed out including three shoeboxes of note cards for the dissertation he has never gotten around to writing. Furniture is donated to Good Will and 1-800-Got Junk. In a short amount of time on a Saturday morning with the help of two others, Liam is able to move to his new apartment. He begins to unpack and settle into his new life. By nightfall Liam is exhausted with aches and pains all over his body. Even though it is very early in the evening he decides it’s time to go to bed. He is happy with his choice of living quarters - his mattress is comfortably firm, there is a breeze blowing in the window and he can see the stars in the sky. He thinks to himself that there is no reason he will ever need to move again.
When he awakens, he is in a hospital room, hooked up to machines, and has a helmet of gauze wrapped around his head. Most disturbing, however, is the fact that he cannot remember anything about the incident that has landed him in the hospital.
The loss of memory weighs heavily on Liam. He finally decides to consult a neurologist he knew twenty years earlier. While at the neurologist’s office, Liam observes an elderly man accompanied by a younger woman, who acts as a “rememberer.” She remembers names, places, dates, hints, and appointments for him. Liam, obsessed with his own memory loss, sets out to meet the “rememberer.” When he orchestrates a meeting with the rememberer, whose name is Eunice, a friendship develops, and Liam’s life suddenly takes on a new meaning. He realizes that he has merely been an observer in his own life. With Eunice in his life, he starts to become a participant.
However, life is still full of surprises and setbacks and Liam must decide if he is going to stay in one place bobbing along, or if he will use his new found feelings as a compass to move forward with his life.
You can find this book and other books by Anne Tyler at the Lexington Public Library. You’ll also find our new booklist at the library or online at www.lexingtonlibrary.com.
Kathy Thomsen
Library Director
Lexington Public Director
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