Trust No One

X-Files, Book 1

By: Jonathan Maberry - editor/author

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Hillary Huber

Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

We all want to believe. The truth is still out there.

The X-Files have been reopened. IDW Publishing and series creator Chris Carter have authorized new investigations into the weird, the strange, and the mysterious. New York Times best-selling author and multiple Bram Stoker Award winner Jonathan Maberry brings together some of today's top storytellers for a series of anthologies featuring all-new stories from the X-Files. Scully and Mulder continue their journey into darkness as they face aliens, monsters, shadow governments, and twisted conspiracies.

This first volume includes stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Tim Lebbon, Max Allan Collins, Heather Graham, Brian Keene, Peter Clines, Ray Garton, Stefan Petrucha, Gayle Lynds and John Sheldon, Aaron Rosenberg, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Paul Crilley, W. D. Gagliani and David Benton, Tim Deal, and Gini Koch.

©2015 Jonathan Maberry (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

True Xfiles

fantastic easy listening of short stories like episodes. no big conspiracy theories just simple Supernatural weirdness.

Its not one story....but they are all good!!!

This is a compilation of multiple X-files stories, not one continuous book, as I was expecting. I know, the description states multiple stores. It's my fault for not thoroughly reading the description and reviews. It's an X-files book, so I just bought it based upon the title. I must say they are all good stories, each about an hour long.

Good group of stories from different authors.

One story was a great surprise because the writer made it look like Scully was in danger the whole time and she was not. I had several good old X Files skin crawling moments and I loved the Skinner solo stories. I didn't like the voice Bronson used for Scully.

Nice collection of stories

Definitely worth it. Some stories excelled some were not great. Some editing was off but the narrators were excellent throughout.
Going to miss the X-files again :-(

Great story

Is so great to have fresh X-Files stories to keep the search for truth going.

Awsome read

Fuck yea cool book, It was fucking awsome very good but kind of short but it did have some great stories though.

A great collection of stories.

If you’re an X-Files fan these stories fit right in with the original series. Well written and interesting I really enjoyed them!

The alternating narrators depending on who is the main character was great!

Mostly Fun, With a Few Niggles.

If you're an X-Files fan, yeah, you should listen to these stories. For the most part, the stories stick with the characters and mythology we all came to know and love. There are a few miss-steps, however, that could have been solved through editing or better yet, just communication between the authors.

My first complaint is that the stories don't share the same timeline past when the X-Files aired. In some stories, Mulder and Skully are a couple. In some they aren't. In some Mulder was married, in others he was the swinging single. A conversation between authors to agree on what happened after the X-Files would have helped this. The lack of consistency gets confusing pretty fast. (Of course all of that may have been thrown out the window as soon as the "season 10" mini-season started)

My second complaint is that the timeline jumped all over the place. One story might take place in 1994, and the next in 2014, and the next in 2003. It wouldn't have taken much effort to put these in order chronologically, and this could have really helped the flow of the stories. Since they stand alone, it may not seem like a big deal, but try jumping around from episodes in one season to another. The cohesion gets a little wonky.

The only other complained I had was that having 2 narrators didn't work out real well. Individually both Bronson Pinchot and Hillary Huber are great narrators. Some of the best. However, the way that it was decided who would read what story, or what part of a story, was pretty disjointed. At times it seemed like Bronson Pinchot was reading any stories that were from Mulder's perspective, and Hillary Huber would read any stories that were from Skully's. That would have been fine. But switching back and forth within the same story just didn't work well. Oh, and Bronson Pinchot's Mulder voice was a little annoying. It always sounded like Mulder was half asleep or stoned. More like making fun of Mulder rather than playing him.

Overall, though, this is a fun listen (or read). I'm looking forward to the next installment coming soon!

I Want to Believe, But...

As great as it was to see Mulder and Scully investigating the paranormal again in the 2016 revival of the X-Files, it was maybe the most uneven season the show had experienced (and yes, I'm counting the seasons where Mulder was mostly absent). This collection of short fiction (averaging about an hour per story) has a better hit/miss ratio, but only just.

Let's start with the positives: Bronson Pinchot and Hillary Huber do an admirable job narrating the characters -- particularly Mulder and Scully who David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson brought to life. With a series this cult-ish, those are big shoes to fill -- and Pinchot in particular did a great dead-pan Mulder.

Additionally, some of the authors really enjoy playing in the X-Files basement office. Both Gini Koch and Keith R.A. DeCandido seem to be trying to out geek each other with references and Easter eggs listed in their stories. I particularly enjoyed Koch's horrific tale featuring Mulder his mentor Arthur Dales, prior to him taking over the X-Files. Several stories take place in the early years of the X-Files, such as Tim Lebbon's "Catonia," which sees Mulder and Scully investigating beside Alex Krycek. While we don't get to see the Lone Gunmen or John Doggett, Skinner does get a couple of fun solo outings. Stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Max Allan Collins, Brian Keene, and Peter Clines would have all made top-notch, monster of the week episodes. I could imagine them just as if I'd watched the stories unfold on TV.

But when the collection misses, it really misses. A lot of this can be laid on the editors, unfortunately. I found Tim Deal's "King of the Watery Deep," in which Mulder and Scully travel to the Middle East, to be a text book example of how to write offensive, culturally exploitative appropriation. (When you have two Saudi police officers, it's poor choices to make one a womanizer and the other a man who wants to see all foreigners killed by an ancient monster). "Time and Tide" had some ambitious ideas -- so much so that they drown out the story (and it felt like a story Mulder and Scully were shoehorned in to). I struggled buying the overall premise and climax of Heather Graham's "It's all in the Eyes," and the punchline at the end was a turn off. Additionally, in several stories, there were errors regarding which character was speaking as well as general continuity areas. Some of these are forgivable, others are just bad storytelling.

In the end, this one is really only for dedicated X-Files fans looking to wash the bitter of taste of season 10 from their mouths. I know there are a couple more of these anthologies, but I don't recognize as many of the author names in them, and I'll probably pass on them unless they go up for sale.

Table of Contents:

Catatonia, by Tim Lebbon
The Beast of Little Hill, by Peter Clines
Oversight, by Aaron Rosenberg
Dusk, by Paul Crilley
Loving the Alien, by Stefan Petrucha
Non Gratum Anus Rodentum, by Brian Keene
Back in El Paso my Life Will be Worthless, by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Paranormal Quest, by Ray Garton
King of the Watery Deep, by Timothy Deal
Sewers, by Gini Koch
Clair De Lune, by W.D. Gagliana and David Benton
It's All in the Eyes, by Heather Graham
The House on Hickory Hill, by Max Allan Collins
Time and Tide, by Gayle Lynds and John C. Sheldon
Statues, by Kevin J. Anderson

Brilliant narration breathes life into even the stalest stories

This collection of short stories is a mixed bag, with a few boring non-xfiles compliant tales. Still, I wholeheartedly recommend this audiobook just simply because of its fabulous narration. It feels like listening to enticing radio episodes with excellent actors.