Miracle Man

The X-Files: Young Adult #16

by Terry Bisson

Young Samuel has the gift of healing with a touch of his hand. But when one of his followers dies on the pulpit, suspicion is cast upon Samuel, and FBI Special Agents Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate. Is this someone's sick idea of a publicity stunt? Or has the healer's touch suddenly turned deadly . . . ?

Genres: Supernatural, Science Fiction, Mystery, Fiction

Library Binding

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Terry Ballantine Bisson was an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his short stories, including "Bears Discover Fire" (1990), which which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, as well as They're Made Out of Meat (1991), which has been adapted for video often.

Adapted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Stephen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Kenwood, Tennessee, FBI Agents Mulder and Scully investigate Samuel Hartley, a young faith healer who has supposedly brought about many miraculous cures with the touch of a hand over the past ten years; however, Samuel is also the prime suspect when members of his flock mysteriously die after submitting to his healing abilities.

Miracle Man, which is a young-adult adaptation of the 1994 X-Files episode of same name, features an ensemble cast of compelling characters: the complicated and guilt-laden Samuel Hartley, his surrogate evangelical father, the enigmatic man-in-black Leonard Vance, and the vindictive Sheriff Daniels who believes Samuel to be a phony. There are sufficient plot twists and surprising turns to keep you guessing in this well-crafted mystery story. For instance, audiences are first made to believe that young Samuel is killing his followers through his professed healing powers, and his willingness to accept blame for this heinous crime leaves readers confused as to what is really happening. And there's the inexplicable plague of locusts infesting the courtroom that initially leads one to suspect a divine intervention is taking place. Deducing the identity of the perp proves no easy task, though a second reading of the book yields some subtle clues as the killer strives to remain undetected.

Given The X-Files' fascination with exploring the myriad realms of mysticism and supernatural phenomena, religion seems like terrific fodder for a story. There's definitely a fine line to walk when writing a religious work of fiction. You want to make it seem authentic without offending certain sensibilities or making the story seem hokey. The religious liturgies of Reverend Hartley’s 'Miracle Ministry' recall the sort of televangelist fervor and high degree of scandal that reached its pinnacle in the 1980s. Here, the overzealous Hartley benefits greatly from his faith, so he has an obvious motivation for convincing people of Samuel's healing super-abilities—and yet, Hartley's character proves unexpectedly sympathetic. Sure, he yields tremendous wealth from his parishioners, but Hartley appears genuine in his beliefs and his devout message offers them hope. What I like most about Miracle Man is that it plays with our anxieties regarding the more extreme practices and rites associated with fringe Christian theology.

"Miracle Man" was never one of my favorite episodes, chiefly due to its trite use of Samantha's disappearance to manipulate Mulder's emotions, but the story actually continues to hold up well. Regrettably, Miracle Man is the final installment of The X-Files Young Adult series.

[Kenny T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book mainly because of my friend. He, who won't be named, has been reading the series for quite some time now and I wanted to give it a shot. Also yes, this is the first book in the series I have read and yes it is the 16th edition. I chose the 16th book because I could and because it was on the top of the pile. To me this is a very important trait to the book that makes it such a nice sit down and read in a day type of book.
The book is about 2 FBI agents that go through cases that are deemed X-files or out of the ordinary. The pair is called in on a case of something that to them seemed like some religion scam. This idea of it being a simple scam didn't stick for long because in the story the characters are slowly turning into believers at least one of the agents. In the story the agent is shown going after a girl that as the reader we know as his sister but what made it even more strange is that the so called “Miracle Man” knew about what the agent was seeing. This is strange because from the reader’s perspective these where only in the agent’s imagination meaning he shouldn’t know what he was seeing, but he did. What seemed to be a simple case of scamming turned into a X-file. The agent was seeing images of later found out to be his sister. Based off of how the agent acts about this and how the imaginations are we can assume the sister of the agent is no longer with him. This also leads for us to believe that the man is showing the agent images of her on purpose, mainly because he is the only other person that knows of him seeing her.
As mentioned earlier I picked the 16th book first, this didn't affect me anyway at all. In the books there doesn't seem to be much of a connection between the books atleast I didnt believe I lacked information after skipping 15 books. The connections such as the two agents doesn't really have to do with the main story which is the case. The characters don't matter as much as the case and there isn't really a need for too much character development. This form of each book being able to stand alone and there being so many of them makes me feel this book and the series is a great rainy day book. It's one of those books where you pick it up on a rainy day and finish on a rainy day when you’re trapped inside. They’re quick and easy and would be great to have a copy or two just to read all the way through.
In my opinion there isn't a lot of things to be me that can be done better. The book series isn't about one big important case. Each book is its own case. The series to me did its job in making quick easy books to read whenever you felt like it. They don’t take a lot of dedication to do and can be read in any order. This doesn't mean its perfect though. I believe there should be more character development for the characters that don't come back in the other books like 99% of them. I feel like they shouldn't just disappear, but rather have them developed enough so that each version of the book is identified by its one hit wonder characters. Overall I enjoyed reading the book and believe its something to read if you have a few hours free.

[Kamrynne]

Miracle man has a good mix of suspense and horror. When I started reading it I could not put it down. I recommend this book to anyone who loved horror and suspense.