For the first two-thirds of its 300+ pages, SKIN is the best TV tie-in novel I've ever read. Near the end, though, it stumbles a bit and ultimately has to settle for being ONE of the best (IMHO). The medical info throughout the story was so detailed and completely legit that I suspected author Ben Mezrich to have attended medical school at some point before launching his writing career. Having just read his bio on Wikipedia, I see that I was mistaken. Major props for faking it so convincingly! What's even more impressive is that Mezrich wrote this while still less than 30-years-old. I mean, heck, I'm 31, and the best thing I've ever written is probably this book review. My only major beef with this book is one truly awful scene in which the bad guys--apparently taking their cues from the villains on that old 1960's BATMAN TV show--hook Mulder up to a diabolical death machine and then confidently exit the building without even posting so much as a single guard to make sure that Mulder's death goes off without a hitch. And if such laziness on Mezrich's part weren't bad enough, Mezrich compounds his authorial sin by resorting to a DUES EX MACHINA in order to allow for Mulder's escape. Oh, and did I mention that the bad guys keep their secret files in that very same room--stored in actual file cabinets? And...guess what!...the cabinets aren't even locked! Apart from this scene, though, Mezrich has crafted a novel that does total justice to the spirit and intelligence of the TV series (my all-time favorite, btw). I've now read all the X-Files novels save for one, and SKIN is definitely the pick of the litter.
Quick and fun read. I have a secret love for books made from TV series. The great thing about them is that there is no need for even the slightest bit of back story because that is all assumed knowledge. Instead, the author can jump straight into the meat of the story. This particular story is the usual science/scifi/mystery that made me enjoy the tv series. Even though I will not re-watch another episode of the series because the effects are so dated, I would be happy to jump on another X-Files book in the near future.
What do You think about Skin (2000)?
Okay, Skin disappointed me. BUT I remember loving Ruins-- that was my favorite tie-in novel by far. It was about jungles! And ruins! And Scully had to dive into a big deep well with dead bodies in it! It was pretty cool. Skin was just okay.
—Jim
This x-file book (I will admit I think I will have most certainly read my fill of X-files for some time, I remember how much I enjoyed them but I also now remember how easy it is to over dose on them too) is a bit of a mix. The book is a gruesome race to find the victim/perpetrator and stop even great tragedies from happening. Ok its tricky to say more without giving the story away but I will say that the investigation is very reminiscent of medical thrillers of Robin Cook - in that a medical procedure goes terribly wrong with all hell breaking loose shortly after. The story is told with the great detail and style with the "medical science" presented in a believable manner. The only possible negative side is that the story is wrapped up neat and tidy at the end of the novel in the usual x-files manner (although the storyline does take a bit of a wobble its not enough to totally ruin it), which I will admit by now starts to give the feeling of "why bother" when nothing really moves forward.
—Andrew
A competent, but not great audiobookI heard Skin as an audiobook. It was narrated by Bruce Harwood, who portrays the most 'normal' of the conspiracy-addicted threesome known as 'the Lone Gunmen' on the X-Files TV show. Harwood does a competent, but ultimately uninspiring job of narrating the story.In fact, this is also a decent description of the book as a whole. It is okay, but not great. The characters act like they are supposed to, but those wry comments from Fox are mostly non-existent and Scully is just not quite right throughout most of the book.The plot itself was okay. The ending was a bit anti-climatic.It's entertaining, but not great entertainment. Read more of my reviews at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/
—Dale
