I am talking about the novelization of Homeland.

When I was a kid, the idea of a TV show or movie spinning off into a novel was a revolutionary idea. At least to this child; and I still have the “novel” versions of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

But novelizations seem to thrive.

Murder, She Wrote went off prime-time TV years ago, although it still thrives as reruns on various channels. But the novels about Cabot Cove continue. The latest of which just came out this week, Murder, She Wrote: Close-Up on Murder by “Jessica Fletcher” and Donald Bain, who has written numerous novelizations and stand-alone novels.

Richard Castle of ABC’s Castle has at least four novels out, including the latest Deadly Heat. But do you really think Richard Castle, the fictional mystery writer on this TV police procedural, really wrote these novel, even though his name is on the cover? Or that Nathan Fillion is ghost writing between takes on the set of Castle?

Tod Goldberg has several fiction works including the novel Living Dead Girl, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He also writes the Burn Notice series, based on the USA series about the “burned” spy that recently ended its run.

Tod Goldberg’s brother, scriptwriter Lee Goldberg, also has written a slew of books based on the Monk series, in addition to his own novels and screenplays. Lee Goldberg recently teamed up with Janet Evanovich for the caper The Heist.

And that brings me back to Homeland, making its debut as a novel titled Homeland: Carrie’s Run.

The novelist is Andrew Kaplan who has written such intriguing novels as the bestselling spy thrillers Scorpion Betrayal, Scorpion Winter, and Scorpion Deception. Kaplan’s background as a novelist of spy thrillers makes him the perfect candidate to write about this intelligent spy drama on Showtime.

Homeland: Carrie’s Run takes place in 2006, long before Brody came along. Assigned to the Beirut station of the CIA, Carrie has been outed by a contact she trusted. She’s brought back to Washington, D.C., and sent to what her bosses hope is a safe assignment in the States. Of course it isn’t safe and acting on a hunch, which Carrie does a lot, she returns to Beirut.

So, Mystery Scene readers, what do you think of novelizations and do you prefer the screen or the print version? After all, Murder, She Wrote wouldn’t still be published if the books weren’t being read.