The X-Files: Skin by Ben Mezrich

Anyone else out there ever read a novel based on a TV show or movie series that you enjoy, one that actually tells its own stand alone story as opposed to one that is just a novelization of events that have already aired on screen? If so what did you think? Was the story true to the characters and style of the TV show / movie series, or did it feel like it was missing something? If missing something was it still a good read? Is it possible to be entertained by such a book even if it falls short of its main goal? Two weeks ago my answer to the first question would have been NO, which of course made it impossible for me to answer the questions that followed. Then on a whim I decided to give one of the X-Files novels a try, my finger randomly selecting a title from the seven or so I found on Amazon.com. Now my answer is YES, and not just to the first question. I think it is possible to enjoy a book like this even if it feels like something is missing just as long as the writing is solid and doesn’t constantly try to force the reader into believing it is something that it is not. I’m also a bit skeptical on whether or not it is even possible for a novel like this to fully capture the essence of a TV show / movie series given how different the two mediums are from one another.

The X-Files: Skin tells the story of an X-File investigation that is opened when a history professor goes on a violent killing spree after being given a temporary skin graft for burns he sustained after a boiler explosion in a basement room of a library. Though unusual in itself, the fact that the professor went crazy after such a procedure isn’t what draws the attention of Agents Mulder and Scully; instead it is the strength the professor displayed in the attack, strength that allowed him to crush a skull with his bare hands. The lack of pain after a procedure that would leave most screaming for a steady flow of painkillers is also intriguing, especially to Scully given her medical background. Things then grow even more bizarre when it is learned that the skin used in the transplant had been harvested from the wrong corpse, one that has since disappeared. The circumstances of that corpses death -- all based on eye witness accounts -- adds to the mystery because it appears as if the body was thrown from a van at sixty miles an hour without any visible surface injury. Intrigued, both agents follow their usual paths of deductive reasoning in an attempt to figure out what exactly is going on, which eventually leads them to a small fishing village in Thailand where a MASH unit once treated severe burn victims during the Vietnam War. The question is what else was the MASH unit doing while located in the area, and are the unusual events that lead Mulder and Scully to that location a result of a secret medical breakthrough that was never shared with the public?

Despite being well written and entertaining, The X-Files: Skin seemed lacking when it came to having the genuine feel of an X-Files episode and therefore was somewhat disappointing to me. That said I did still enjoy the novel and would recommend it to people who like dark thrillers, but not to X-Files fans who are desperately craving more from a show we all loved. I would further go on to say that this novel would have been great if it had just been its own story rather than trying to fit the mold of an X-Files episode (kind of like how the forth Indiana Jones movie could have been great if it hadn’t tried to be an Indiana Jones movie). On the flip side this probably could have been a wonderful X-Files episode if created by the people who brought us the weekly installments, which once again brings up my earlier point of how I don’t think its possible to get the same results with two different entertainment mediums, especially when the portrayal of the characters given by the actors on screen is one of the biggest draws to the show to begin with. Does any of this make sense? Should I just have left my thoughts as Good Book, Bad X-Files? Hard to say. I do know one thing, I would like to read more of Ben Mezrich’s novels, and I would also like to read the other X-Files novels that various authors have written. I will just have to keep reminding myself that they will never be as good as the show itself.