RICHARD CASTLE'S LATEST, HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED THRILLER IN THE NIKKI HEAT SERIES -- DEADLY HEAT -- RELEASES SEPTEMBER 17

Bestselling Book Series Steadily Grows to More Than 2.3 Million Copies And is Now Available in 14 Languages

Tune in to the ABC's "Castle" Season 6 Premiere on September 23

Inspired by author Richard Castle's research with NYPD Homicide Detective Kate Beckett, his love interest and muse, the next installment of the Nikki Heat series is soon to be released. Last fall's bestselling mystery, Frozen Heat, left fans wanting more as the tough and sexy New York City Police Detective Nikki Heat began to unravel the clues surrounding her mother's cold case, which has always haunted her. Picking up where Frozen Heat left off, DEADLY HEAT ($26.99 hardcover) has Nikki on the hunt for the elusive former CIA station chief who ordered the execution of her mother more than a decade ago. Nikki will stop at nothing and is determined to find justice for her mother.

For the search, Nikki once again teams up with her ruggedly-handsome romantic partner, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Jameson Rook. Their quest for the truth about Nikki's mother's murder takes a surprising turn when the duo unearth an alarming terror plot -- which is anything but ancient history. It is lethal. It is now. And it has already entered its countdown phase.

Meanwhile, further complicating Nikki's mission to bring the rogue spy to justice and thwart the looming terror event, a serial killer begins menacing the Twentieth Precinct, and Nikki's homicide squad is under pressure to stop him. This diabolical murderer, who is known for his chilling stealth, not only singles out Nikki as the exclusive recipient of his taunting messages, but he boldly names her as his next victim.

ABOUT "CASTLE": When viewers first met Richard Castle - a famous mystery novelist and divorced father raising his teenage daughter, while being kept grounded by his Broadway diva mother - he was creatively blocked. But when the NYPD questioned him in connection with a series of murders staged to imitate crime scenes from his books, Castle found inspiration in Kate Beckett, a bright and aggressive NYPD homicide detective with a fascination for odd and offbeat cases, stemming from the years-old unsolved murder of her own mother. Though they instantly clashed, sparks of another sort began to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle stepped in to help find the copycat killer. Once that initial case was solved, Castle and Beckett continued to investigate strange homicides in New York, combining Castle's writer intuition and Beckett's creative detective work.

"Castle," which will premiere its sixth season on the ABC Television Network, stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD Detective Javier Esposito, Seamus Dever as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan, Penny Johnson Jerald as NYPD Captain Victoria Gates, Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle, with Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers. "Castle" is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe is the show's creator/executive producer, along with executive producers Rob Bowman, David Amann, David Grae and Armyan Bernstein.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Richard Castle is the author of numerous bestsellers, including Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises and the Derrick Storm eBook original trilogy. 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. Richard Castle is portrayed by actor Nathan Fillion in the ABC television series "Castle."

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