Tempête de feu

Derrick Storm #2

by Richard Castle

Derrick Storm rentre de vacances quand soudain, à plus de 30 000 pieds d’altitude, son avion part en vrille. Heureusement, Storm est là pour sauver la situation et, in extremis, éviter le crash. Dans le même temps, quatre autres avions subissent le même sort et s’écrasent, faisant des dizaines de victimes. A chaque fois, les passagers sont des personnalités riches et puissantes. La CIA fait appel à Storm pour enquêter sur cette affaire qui devient encore plus terrifiante quand de nouveaux avions s’écrasent. Un terroriste aurait-il réussi à fabriquer une nouvelle arme ? De Monaco à l’Egypte et au Panama, Storm va avoir fort à faire pour sauver le monde. Encore une fois !
Le nouveau thriller choc de Richard Castle.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Adventure, Audiobook

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Richard Castle is the author of numerous bestsellers, including the critically acclaimed Derrick Storm series. His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, published while he was still in college, received the Nom DePlume Society's prestigious Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature. Castle currently lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother, both of whom infuse his life with humor and inspiration.

Note: Richard Castle is a fictional character from the ABC television show, Castle, played by Nathan Fillion. The biography is of this character. His name is being used as a pseudonym for tie-in novels to the TV show.

Reviews

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that is a tie-in with the television show Castle. In that show an author followed a police detective to get inspiration. The powers to be decided to release actual books as if that television character really existed. When this concept was introduced years ago I just loved it. We have since learned who actually penned these books.

In this one planes are being shot down by a powerful laser. It is up to Derrick Storm to find out who is doing this and put a stop to it.

This is basically a light hearted James Bond thriller. We have all the attributes you would expect from that type of book. The dashing, brave, and heroic secret agent mixed in with a evil plot from a villainous character. Meanwhile we travel from exotic location to exotic location while trying to solve the mystery and see how many women are attracted to our protagonist. All of these tropes work in this book and then some. We get the nods to other works but mostly we get nods to the television show that fans of the show will eat up. As for the adventure I enjoyed it and I really did not know who was behind it until the reveal. And the main character is one that I truly enjoy has we get to see his agent side but also his compassionate down to earth side.

Everything works in this book. I am not the biggest fan of this genre but this book and series I do enjoy. I believe that happens because of how the author writes this book. It is meant to be fun, light hearted and entertaining and it is. It isn't thought provoking. Sometimes I just want to be entertained and live in the moment and I did that with this book.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Derrick Storm books. They have an exciting storyline, a plausible plot, and a likeable hero. Not as researched or fully developed as the late (and missed) Vince Flynn's novels, but in that genre. This book landed on my Kindle on Tuesday, I began it on Wednesday, and by Thursday it was finished. A fun page turner. Storm was a little too (conveniently) gullible at one point, but I accepted the plot device and continued enjoying the book.

What's most fun about this is, like the Nikki Heat series, nods and winks are written for fans of the television show. The most amusing wink for me was this passage:

"No shame in having a ghostwriter," Storm said. "Some of the best books published every year are penned by talented writers whose identity the public will never know."

True enough. :)

[farmwifetwo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf 35%. Bored and OTT. Bounces all over.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Returning for another harrowing adventure, Derrick Storm is thrust into the spotlight from the get-go. While traveling home from Europe, his plane goes into mechanical failure and he must save all those on board. Only later does he realise that other planes have already crashed (3 that same day), all coming from various parts of the world. Tasked with investigating as only he knows how, Storm begins looking for clues and a motive. He soon learns of a scientist who has been kidnapped from around his home in California and the top-secret work he'd been doing for decades; building powerful lasers capable of wreaking havoc on all they touch. Jumping from continent to continent, Storm begins to piece things together, looking not only for the means of creating these lasers, but also who might have a motive to kill countless people, including some international dignitaries, for their own twisted reasons. Castle entertains from the outset and tones down the Storm cheesiness just enough to make the book a decent thriller.

Richard Castle, the ever-evolving pseudonym, has created a great novel founded on a much-used theme; good versus bad and the weapon that could cost one side all it has. While used to his Heat series, Castle has begun pushing these Storm novels, which have a different take, but are equally entertaining. While perhaps best used as summer beach reading or airline fillers (though the early part of this book might leave a reader in quite a tizzy aboard a flight), the book paces itself well and keeps the reader's attention. Add a little Bond-esque nature and you have the key to what most undercover agents thrive to be; a ladies' man to the end. Decently written and well-crafted.

Kudos, Mr. Castle on this foray into the world of international espionage and all its nuances.

[Eric Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I was an English major. I've been ghostwriting for him since graduate school."

"No shame in having a ghostwriter, " Storm said. "Some of the best books published every year are penned by talented writers whose identity the public will never know."

The fifth book in the Derrick Storm series was a fun read, even though I have not read the first four. I know a little about him from the Castle TV show, but the story was self-contained in the way that it isn't necessary to have read every James Bond novel to enjoy the latest Bond movie.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly entertaining and endlessly ridiculous James Bond-esque adventure thriller.

[Anna Getz · Rating 5 out of 5]

It kept my interest from beginning to the end.

[Aparna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 3.5 / 5

Recommendation: Easy breezy mystery plots with heavy political and international crimes being solved by the most capable person of all in CIA; naturally there is lot of intrigue, suspense, a bit gory and edged with light romance.

Wild Storm is the fifth Derrick Storm novel published in May of 2014 by fictional author Richard Castle from the TV series Castle (portrayed by Nathan Fillion) (My review of the TV series here: http://inspirethoughts.livejournal.co...).

In this installment, Derrick Storm is put into investigation by Jedediah Jones, head of the National Clandestine Service (NCS), to find the reasons behind why planes are falling from the skies and who is behind all this. An investigation that takes Derrick from Hercules in CA to Monaco to Panama to Tangier to Egypt. He boards planes even when in danger of falling, travels in luxury cruise liner, fights bandits in a desert, meets beautiful women at archaeological digs, rescuing innocent people along the way, all the while uncovering the layers behind the falling planes.

Agents Javier Rodriguez and Kevin Bryan reprise their roles in this installment again. We had met them in the last book, Storm Front (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...). I didn’t realize at that time, but while reading this book it hit me that Richard Castle based these two characters on the two detectives - Javier "Javi" Esposito and Kevin Ryan - from the TV show, Castle.

Author Castle also keeps the continuity from the previous novels of Derrick Storm in every plot he writes - mention of Derrick going undercover as a reporter for a soy-related trade publication; his father, Carl Storm, reappears.

He also takes us on a lot of historical, political and archaeological tour along the way - Finding the bust of Khufu, one of the early pharaohs of Fourth Dynasty; History of Panama Canal; Political trysts in the expansion of Panama Canal; Fertile Crescent and its origin; reference to Operation Mockingbird, a 1950s CIA operation to manipulate media; history about Prince George of Denmark - Queen Anne's husband.

Not to discount the fictional references Castle includes in his plots, be it stories, hand-me-down tales or movies - Reference to Ray Bradbury and Rod Sterling; Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; Luke Skywalker's back story; a story about the man with bag of sands; References to Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbu; Aesop's fable about the frog and scorpion; Three Apples from One Thousand and One Nights; quotes from the 1978 American film Animal House.

And of course the fancy gadgets and arms that Derrick gets to use along the way.

There was still unfinished business between Derrick Storm and Clara Strike when the book Storm Front ended. I wondered if he would explore it further and give a closure. We see Clara Strike reappear in this installment too and it seemed that Derrick and she has some kind of closure. But this love hate relationship they had is so caustic, at least that is what I feel from a reader. I would love to have a person who was Derrick's equal in every way like Clara as Derrick's partner but someone who believed in what he believed rather than just work for the organization. I do hope Castle, if he writes any future books for Derrick Storm will get him such a partner.

Although I liked the fact that Castle gave a sort of closure on Tangier for Derrick Storm in this plot.

Whenever I come across the character Jedediah Jones, he reminds me of Adam Harrison of Adam Harrison Investigation Series (My review of those books here: https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...) and Krewe of Hunters Series (My review of those books here: https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...) by Heather Graham. Although I find Adam Harrison much more ethical than Jedidiah Jones.

All in all with a little added romance, full of challenging adventures; some involving healing hearts, forgetting pasts or mending bridges; while some involve saving the world; this had been one heck of a journey that Castle took the readers through in this Derrick Storm novel. Looking forward to his next installment.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. Plot Reveals:
a. The pilot of the plane, Captain Estes, is shot to fame when he lands the plane safely despite the damage, all with help from Derrick Storm. Richard Castle mentions that the probably will be given a guest appearance on the highly rated ABC Television Crime Drama. I am sure the author is referring to the TV Show Castle here.
b. In the archaeological dig that Katie Comely works at in Egypt, she finds a bust of Khufu - one of the early pharaohs of Fourth Dynasty, a god-man who had ruled Egypt some 4,500 years ago. I thought he was made-up by the author, but he did exist all those centuries ago. More about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khufu.
c. Castle brings the character Jameson Rook in a conversation in this book. He mentions that Jameson had written an article on a near extinct bird, a finch, and his article boosted people to work together to get that bird out of the endangered species list. And hence named as Jameson's Finch. However, this may be fiction, but in reality there is a Jameson's Firefinch found in Saharan Africa. (More about that bird here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson...). I am guessing the author simply made a play of words here to connect the real finch to the fictional story in the plot.
2. Interesting Tidbits:
a. In one of the chapters, Castle mentions that CIA bought a whole lot of $852 toilet seats and $6,318 hammers to fund for NCS. I remember a similar dialogue from the 1996 hit American film Independence Day. In the film, David Levinson's father, Julius Levinson, mocks at the President Thomas J. Whitmore, similarly when the President asks how the secret research project on the aliens was being funded. Here is the snippet of their conversation:

President Thomas Whitmore: I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?
Julius Levinson: You don't actually think they spend $20,000 on a hammer, $30,000 on a toilet seat, do you?

3. Sub Plots:
a. Richard Castle introduces Derrick Storm at the end of the book, High Heat, giving a segue that his next book would be a Heat and Storm combo. And yes indeed the last book in the Nikki Heat series was titled Heat Storm, which I am yet to read it and I am guessing that the plot surrounds around the reappearance of Cynthia Heat, Nikki's mother who was thought to be dead. However bringing in Derrick Storm – even though I distinctly remember that he was killed off by Castle when he was introduced in Season I of the TV Series – adds another layer of strength and power. It would be interesting to see how the two strong alpha characters fare in the next book.
b. The plot in the final book in the trilogy, A Bloody Storm (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...), ends with Jedediah Jones and Derrick Storm (without the knowledge of Jones) have the actual location of the Russian Gold. Or so he thought. Will Richard Castle set the next plot for Derrick Storm on hunting this gold? One has to wait and see.

4. Grammatical / Historical / Geographical / Character / Mythological / Plot Errors:
a. On Page 99, Castle mentions about another author Ferrell Lee who had written a book titled Operation Mockingbird. I couldn’t find either the book or the author. Was it mentioned in error? Or were the writer's imaginations added to the plot? I wonder.
b. On Pg. 190, Line 5, it should be "that there would be times…"
c. On Pg. 322, Line 1, the "?" is not required.
d. On Pg. 322, Line 5, it should be "…you have to be careful…"

[Jay Sprenkle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would only rate as adequate as a "bubble gum read."

Good things:
I noticed no spelling or grammar issues.
"Ahmed trades metal." was nice.

Bad things:
Derrick is a perfect cardboard caricature.
The action scenes are completely over the top and impossible.
The science is bogus.

As soon as I read this the book turned into a slog to finish:

"Storm spoke eight languages. He owned a secret retreat in the Seychelles. He once had undergone rituals that signified his life long bond to an aboriginal tribe in the Australian outback. An orphanage in Romania bore his name. A man in Tangiers considered him a brother and would welcome him to his Moorish castle at a moment's notice. The chief clerk at the international court of justice in the Hauge owed him a thousand favors. A remote village in the arctic circle in Finland still thought of him as a conquering hero..."

I finished because it was a gift.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Storm book. Fun, sexy without sex scenes and a page turner.
Someone is bringing down airplanes with a laser.
Storm searches for the bad guys and is totally surprised by what he finds!
Traveling from the US to Panama to the Middle East.
Riding private jets, luxury cars and even a camel.
You will enjoy this WILD ride!

[Nancy The book junkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming soon!

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Yawn)

[Sharon Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little far-fetched for me. Some language but not too much. Good adventure but unrealistic.

[Trudi Jorda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Derrick Storm, the guy the CIA calls on when it wants something investigated domestically, is thirty-three thousand feet in the air, returning from a rock climbing vacation in the Swiss Alps, when the plane spirals into a nose-dive. Storm uses his climbing gear to tether himself to the wing and heroically save the plane and all the people on board. Sadly, Storm is not available to come to the aid of the three other planes that have crashed under similar circumstances, killing everyone on board. Interestingly, many of the victims are powerful people in politics, business and religious groups.
The always elusive Jedidiah Jones, leader of the National ClandestineService that has no name, calls on Storm to investigate. Storm determines that an unknown extremist has secured enough of the rare earth element promethium to create a laser with the power to shoot down planes from the ground. The problem swiftly becomes a global one as four more planes crash in the Arabia Desert.
Details, intuition and courage lead Storm to Monaco, Panama City and Egypt as he meets beautiful women, rides angry camels and rescues innocent victims in his valiant effort to track down the maniacal mind behind the terrorism.
I loved the Castle TV series, and it is now running the reruns of it! The book was a bit more intense and made the Castle character now Derrick Storm, a man that works with the CIA to prevent world man-made disasters a superhero! There is plenty of danger and action. The book is a bit over the top like James Bond but is plenty of danger and has the feelings and depth of character that make it a great read!

[Gregory O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. I liked that Derrick Storm is at once an everyman who takes care of his dad, flies coach, and likes to reference The Doobie Brothers and Star Wars throughout his books. He's kind of a dork. But he is also a built CIA contractor. And in this book, he has to find out what is causing planes to drop out of the sky. A laser is stripping the wings of their ability to land. He is on just one such plane that is in a free fall, returning from the Swiss Alps. Instead of heading to a Baltimore Orioles game with his dad, he's heading back to the Cubby to get his orders from Jedediah Jones. He is also courting the attention of three different women- one, a mysterious girlfriend of a casino owner in Monte Carlo, the other a CIA Agent named Clara Strike who plays by the rules, the other, wait, oh yeah, that Katie Comely, the research assistant for the professor on the archeological dig in Egypt. I loved trying to keep up with who had the weapon, who was enriching the rare earth element to make the weapon, who was paying whom, who was getting handouts under the table from whom, who was the middle man, who was the point man, who was the mastermind. It was a pulse-pounding thriller, and it definitely made a hot afternoon this past summer waiting in a socially distance line outside the DMV in Silvis, Illinois for two hours move a lot faster. One bedroom scene. So there was a lot of build-up with only a little pay-off in Storm's love life. But that's the trick. Richard Castle wants us to keep buying his books, hoping for a romantic pay-off in the next one!

[Baroness Ekat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone is shooting planes out of the sky. The big mistake they made was that one of the planes they shot was one that was carrying master spy, Derrick Storm. He manages to save the plane before it crashes like all the other, but that puts him n the mission to find out who is behind it, because he knows these planes were not being taken down by conventional rockets/missiles/ammo. They are being sliced out of the sky by a laser that should not exist.

His mission takes him from a field in Maryland, a suburb in California, a business in Panama, an archeological dig in Egypt and an ocean liner in the Mediterranean and it will take all his know how and strength to bring the mastermind to judgement.

***

This was a pretty straight forward "no brain needed" spy thriller. Which honestly is kinda what I needed. I did like that unlike most of the genre I've read/endured there was no pointless sex scene. In fact there were no sex scenes. All of it was illuded to, but not in your face.

There was a bunch of "suspend your belief in reality" moments, but I expect that in the genre.

And I love that Robert Petkoff, the reader, sounds enough like Nathan Fillion, who played Richard Castle on the TV, that it made me nostalgic to go watch the show again.

Overall, nothing to write home about but not bad either. Pretty much middle of the road.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories progressively got longer, but also more disjointed along the way. I enjoy Castle, but this book took longer than usual to get through. Storm bounces from one extreme event to another, always managing to do what seems to be impossible, be in the right place in the right time, and solve whatever case he's working on, even when it seems like everyone is against him solving it, including his so-called "employers." Good thing Storm has his own moral code he follows or apparently everything would fall to pieces... again. Heaven forbid the day Storm finally does retire, though Strike and a few others in the CIA do appear to still try and help him out even though Jones inevitable gets wind of most of it.

[Scott Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It's pretty cheesy, but that's part of the fun. If you were a fan of the TV show, Castle, you can imagine Richard Castle writing this. Lots of action. It starts with seemingly separate stories that are then brought together. A few twists and turns along the way make it fun getting to the inevitable conclusion of Derrick Storm saving the day. Definitely a fun read, if you don't take it too seriously.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Derrick Storm, do-it-all agent for hire, saves an airliner through the use of metallic tape. This provides the basis for the rest of the story. Derrick does amazing physical and mental things that boggle the mind. The characters are stereotypical and not very realistic. The plot is pure comic book. I cannot recommend the story except for the fight scenes. The writing too simple for a good thriller.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually probably the best of the Derrick Storm books. I really liked the Egyptian aspect of it. The Castle show starts with them asking Castle how he could kill off Derrick Storm, so I spent the entire book expecting Derrick to die. I was convinced it would be just like the first time.. not really dead, but faked with the help of the CIA. Especially since he was going back to Tangiers. However, I was actually quite shocked when he didn't.

[star_fire13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one WAY more than I liked the previous ones! It helps that this one didn't seem to center on how Derrick Storm was a womanizer and spent all his time trying to woo a chick or something.

Also: the audiobook narrator did a pretty good impersonation of Nathan Fillion! That definitely helped to add to my enjoyment.

[Ana Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, another action packed Derrick Storm adventure completed! This one was particularly ambitious, too.

What could a the kidnapping of a retired man, a post doctorate Egyptologist, and a Panama business man have to do with planes falling from the sky?

You'll just have to read the book to find out! 😘

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bondesque fun romp with big baddies and big adventures.
planes are dropping out of the sky and a square jawed hero called Storm must save the day.
Using his wit and fists he traverses deserts on a camel called Anthony and uses his global connections to hopefully get to the big bad and save the world.
Good fun
Great read

[J Shu · Rating 3 out of 5]

8/23. Derrick Storm saves a passenger plane from crashing, but what caused the problem and why did three other planes crash in the same vicinity? Continent jumping to determine the source of the apparent sabotage, in addition to trying to find the whereabouts of a missing scientist, Storm adventures, provide a really exciting read.

[Hannah⚡️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun, final Derrick Storm book. Lots of action and an interesting plot even if it was pretty unrealistic (although I’m not reading these books for how realistic they are). I wish there were more than just these 3 books because I really enjoy Derrick Storm as a character and I love a good spy thriller

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Nikki Heat books are funny for fans of the Castle TV show, but this isn't making fun of the Castle character as clearly. There are a few inside jokes about uncredited ghost writers and such, but it's mainly just a spy thriller. You can't really parody those because they are prepoterous to begin with.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gung-ho dude cannot fail

Everything Derrick Storm does is amazing and just in the nick of time. Makes for a rollicking good story but nothing that will win a prize for literature anytime soon. I mean really! Females with names like Strike and Comely? Give me strength.

[Rebecca Wile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Castle fan

I love the tv show castle and when I learned his books are real I couldn’t wait to read the Derick Storm series. A cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond I was hooked the whole time.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exciting thriller about laser weapons and who should or should not have them... A bit Jurassic Park like in the can you and should you themes. Egyptian mummies and a rare earth metal are being dug by the same folks. Can Derrikk Storm save the day?

[Mike Guth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent pacing in this book. The orphanage and Irish nun in Romania do not factor into this book, but Storm's role as a CIA agent does. I would rate it somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. At times I wish the book would move along, but overall it remained interesting disc by disc.