I'm not sure why Grant picked up this and another piece of X-Files hack work [b:Whirlwind|219479|Whirlwind (The X-Files)|Charles L. Grant|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172803814s/219479.jpg|1201170]. Maybe he needed to pay the mortgage or he just really liked the show. Hopefully he made a decent deal and did pay the mortgage since this particular copy I have is in the 22nd printing! Anyway, in my quest to read all things Grant, I dove into this one because I had it and it was the only thing around when I needed something to read.

I don't believe this is a novelization of an episode per se but a novel intended to mimic a X-Files episode for those that just couldn't get enough of the show. The problem with this kind of novel is what can you do? We all know the beloved protagonists are going to survive intact, so no suspense there, and we just don't care enough about all the red shirts to give a damn. We already know some of the nefarious are going to get their just deserts while others will slink away to pester the FBI in a future episode. What you are left to play with, if you are going to aspire to art instead of just entertainment, is pure weirdness and the twist(s). Shucking as many X-Files tropes as possible is also another angle. The problem is, as you aspire to art you are going to piss off the hard core X-Files fan who just wants a novelized teleplay of a "typical" X-Files episode. They are here to be entertained, not enlightened.

The ever capable Mr. Grant chooses to take the somewhat low road here and gives us what we want in a modestly literate manner (remember there's still that mortgage payment looming). There is nothing surprising here, just a bit of fun with a secret government black-ops experiment gone very bad. There will be conspirators, friends, traitors, and the ever-clueless, but Scully and Mulder will sort it out before the body count gets too high.

Grant has the advantage of two already well developed characters to start with so he doesn't have to spend a lot of time getting us to know and like them. What he must do however, is not screw-up our internal picture of the two dauntless paranormal G-men, which he doesn't. Where he could have done a little more inspiring job is with the twists. They are there but they are not all that startling when they arrive (I had figured out a key characteristic of the "goblins" but not the precise identity, pretty early on so the main twist didn't work for me).

I was a big fan of the show back when I used to watch television and films more than rarely so I enjoyed the novel as a decent entertainment. ( )

Gaman að rifja upp gömul kynni við X-skrárnar. Þessi sagnaröð hefst þar sem X-skrárnar hafa verið endurvaktar með Scully og Mulder. Furðuleg morð hafa orðið í smábæ. Scully og Mulder eru send þangað og líkt og oft áður fer Mulder á flug með kenningar um yfirnáttúrulegar orsakir á meðan Scully berst við að sannfæra hann um "raunverulegri" skýringar. Undir niðri eimir af þrýstingi huldra afla sem vilja hindra eða hjálp parinu. ( )

Mulder y Scully, los agentes de FBI especializados en fenómenos paranormales que protagonizan la popular serie televisiva Expediente X, se enfrentan en esta ocasión a dos misteriosos casos. En el primero deben investigar dos extrañas muertes en las que el asesino parece haber salido de la nada. El segundo les llevará al desierto de Nuevo México, donde varias personas han aparecido horriblemente desolladas. ( )

Best of the XF tie-ins. Good tight plot, nice characterisation and some gratuitous Muldertorture. ( )

USA, ca 1995
Lidt dårligt klippet - for mange småafsnit, hvor man ikke lige kan finde ud af hvilken person det handler om. Ellers en helt habil knaldroman om at det er smart at kunne gå i et med omgivelserne. Den usynlige Mand udsat for FBI-agenterne Fox Mulder og Dana Scully.
Grady Pierce bliver dræbt af en hånd der kommer ud fra en mur. Hånden holder en meget skarp kniv. Senere bliver Frank Ulman dræbt af en hånd, der kommer ud fra et træ. Hånden holder en meget skarp kniv. Fox Mulder kender svagt Frank Ulman gennem Carl Barelli, hvis kusine var tæt på at skulle giftes med Frank. Mulders nye overordnede, der hedder Arlen Douglas. Arlen prakker Mulder en ny mand på som partner og spion for Arlen, Hank Webber.

Næsten ok spændingsroman ( )