A Raging Storm by Richard Castle

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Cynthia Chow

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A Raging Storm begins immediately – seconds, really – after the end of A Brewing Storm, the first in the episodic Derrick Storm novellas “written” by Richard Castle, the fictional character from ABC’s hit television show Castle. After revealing the culprits of the kidnapping and murder of a senator’s stepson Storm witnesses the assassination of the senator, plummeting the former CIA covert operative and his reluctant FBI partner April Showers into an international scheme involving billions of dollars of Russian gold bullion, a deadly Croatian agent, and even the Russian president. That an FBI agent is sent with Storm to England to investigate a Russian diplomat’s involvement in the murder of a U.S. senator doesn’t bear questioning.

Image source: Hyperion

Reading these installments is pure popcorn. The characters aren’t exactly unique; a greedy, womanizing Russian leader, a beautiful but deadly agent, a moralistic, by-the-book FBI agent with a highway patrol officer father who died a hero and who is now partnered with the rogue Storm…yet it all works to create a compulsively fun and entirely engaging read. While A Brewing Storm was more of a standard detective novel A Raging Storm is a spy thriller, with Storm immediately identifying long range weapons, the escape routes of assassins, and easily eluding the Russians who follow him. All while bantering, annoying, and flirting with his straight-laced and very reluctant partner.

Fans of the television show know that the “author” Richard Castle killed off Storm a la Arthur Conan Doyle’s killing of Holmes in order to move on to writing the Nikki Heat mysteries, and also like Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes the character Storm is resurrected with the explanation that he only faked his death in order to enter an early retirement. Again, this very fast read ends with a cliffhanger to be picked up by the next installment that comes out in August, 2012. If it continues to momentum begun by these first two Storm novellas it should be a guilty pleasure entirely worth the wait.

Check out Cynthia's review of A Brewing Storm in Kings River Life.

For more Richard Castle fun as an author, check out http://www.richardcastle.net/ You can also follow Castle on Facebook and on Twitter @WriteRCastle

Check out KRL's review of Richard Castle's Nikki Heat books, Naked Heat and Heat Rises and Heat Wave, along with two interviews with him!

Cynthia Chow is the branch manager of Kaneohe Public Library on the island of Oahu. She balances a librarian lifestyle of cardigans and hair buns with a passion for motorcycle riding and regrettable tattoos (sorry, Mom).