Heat Rises

This is the third Richard Caslte novel. Like its predecessors, it presents fictionalized versions of the "real" people on the TV show Castle. The book is a solid piece of genre fiction, that I think an stand on its own. However, for me the fun is in the association with Castle. I love the show and the characters, so seeing how they are morphed to fit the crime genre is fun.In this installment we are treated to a more intimate portrait of Nikki Heat. Her vulnerabilities are at the fore throughout the story. She is uncertain about her relationship with Rourke. She is off of her game because of her relationship with her Captain. It is interesting to see the tension between her weaknesses and the tough as nails shell she projects.It is an interesting parallel to Bekett's development on the show. Outwardly, she is tough as nails and an emotional brick wall. Internally, as we've seen glimpses of throughout the series, she is a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. This season in particular is exploring the balancing act she plays to keep it together and the price she pays to do it.

His Robot Girlfriend

As the title implies this book is about a man who buys a robot girlfriend. I downloaded it for free hoping that it would be a meditation on consciousness, humanity, and intelligence. At the very least, I was hoping for some commentary about how attached to our digital crutches. Sadly, it just a book about a lonely guy who buys a robot girlfriend and ends up marrying her.
The robot is smoking hot and exists solely to make the protagonist happy. There are a few glimmers of her having a personality when they visit a Star Trek exhibit the has "anti robot" sentiments. Sadly, it bothers her only because she fears it will make him uncomfortable.
While, the protagonist's life steadily improves over the course of the book, it made me sad. His life gets better partially because the robot girlfriend feeds him the right foods and forces him to exercise. Most of his improvement must be attributed to his escape from loneliness. His robot girlfriend provides him with companionship and sex and a reason to get up in the morning - things that he couldn't find another human being to provide for him.
Color me old fashioned, but I cannot fathom how a mash-up between an iPhone and a blow-up doll can replace human companionship. Relationships between humans can be messy and hard, but that is part of what makes them special. At the end of the day, I don't want my partner to have no desires or interests beyond making me happy. I'd shoot myself.
On a positive note, the book is short, free, and easy to read.

Half Past Dead

When did zombies become props in erotica? I'm not sure I want to know the answer. It is just wrong. I think that romance/erotica should not be mixed with horror.
I found it painful to read, but if you are into romance/erotica, this book is a decent romance/erotica novel. It hits all the right conventions: strong woman, wounded and slightly and slightly dangerous man, sex, and marriage at the end. The sex is predictably steamy and surprisingly plentiful. The characters are young, attractive, and wildly fabulous. They talk like robots. But I guess beautiful people don't need wit.

Breathers: A Zombies Lament

It is pretty obvious that I'm a zombie fan, so this book piqued my interest when I saw it was available at the library. I was also a little afraid because it looked like it would be one of those social commentary, woe is me, weepy sort of books. It was that, but done in such a way to make it a fun zombie book as well.
S. G. Browne does an excellent job of making his zombie characters fully fleshed out. The narrator is just a regular guy who happens to have reanimated after his death. You can really feel the torment he goes through having lost his place in the world, but the narrative never slips into melodrama. Browne keeps things moving with snappy dialog and clever use of zombie folklore.
Using zombies also takes a little of the edge off of the truly terrible things that happen to the zombie cast. There is something funny about a zombie putting on make-up to fit in, or a zombie wearing a sign protesting that zombies are people too.
I hear they are making a movie out of the book. That usually scares me since it is hard to make most good books into films, but I think "Breathers" has a good shot of surviving the translation. The book is dialog and character driven, so a good scriptwriter should be able to make it work. The danger is having the movie slip off into camp or horror. "Breathers" is not horror.
I highly recommend this to both zombie and non-zombie fans. It has something for everyone.