Trust No One

X-Files Anthology #1

by Jonathan Maberry (Editor), Gayle Lynds, Tim Lebbon

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 Bestseller and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winner Jonathan Maberry brings together some of today's top storytellers for a series of anthologies featuring all-new case files from the X-Files. Scully and Mulder continue their journey into darkness as they face aliens, monsters, shadow governments, and twisted conspiracies.

THE X-FILES: VOLUME ONE

Introduction by Jonathan Maberry
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 Tim Deal
Sewers by Gini Koch
Clair de Lune by W.D. Gagliani 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

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery, Paranormal

418 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2015

About the author

JONATHAN MABERRY is a NYTimes bestselling author, #1 Audible bestseller, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, 4-time Scribe Award winner, Inkpot Award winner, comic book writer, and producer. He is the author of more than 50 novels, 190 short stories, 16 short story collections, 30 graphic novels, 14 nonfiction books, and has edited 26 anthologies. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, was a Netflix original series starring Ian Somerhalder. His 2009-10 run as writer on the Black Panther comic formed a large chunk of the recent blockbuster film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. His bestselling YA zombie series, Rot & Ruin is in development for film at Alcon Entertainment; and John Wick director, Chad Stahelski, is developing Jonathan’s Joe Ledger Thrillers for TV. Jonathan writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, epic fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include The Pine Deep Trilogy, The Kagen the Damned Trilogy, NecroTek, Ink, Glimpse, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, The Sleepers War (with Weston Ochse), Mars One, and many others. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, Don’t Turn out the Lights: A Tribute to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, Shadows & Verse, and others. His comics include Marvel Zombies Return, The Punisher: Naked Kills, Wolverine: Ghosts, Godzilla vs Cthulhu: Death May Die, Bad Blood and many others. Jonathan has written in many popular licensed worlds, including Hellboy, True Blood, The Wolfman, John Carter of Mars, Sherlock Holmes, C.H.U.D., Diablo IV, Deadlands, World of Warcraft, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, Predator, Karl Kolchak, and many others. He the president of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, and the editor of Weird Tales Magazine. He lives in San Diego, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com

Reviews

[Mohammed Arabey · Rating 4 out of 5]

في التسعينات محدش يقدر ينسي نغمة صفارة من 6 مقاطع،كئيبة مثيرة كأنها من عالم آخر

شعار حرف الأكس، المجهول، السري، التابو الغامض..بمجرد رؤيته سيأتي ببالك كل خرافات الزمن من وحوش غريبة وحشرات مهجنة او فيروسات رهيبة..والاهم، ظواهر الأطباق الطائرة و اختطافات فضائية
والمؤامرة الحكومية وراء كل هذا

The X-Files إنه زمن التسعينات الجميل...زمن الاكس فايلز
The Truth is out there حيث الحقيقة بالخارج
I want to Believe عندما حيث تريد ان تصدق

كنت مجرد مهووسا بها في التسعينات من خلال ما يقل عن 100 حلقة فحسب قامت القناة الأولي المصرية بعرضها في سهرة كل أربعاء من خلال برنامج اخترنا لك منذ 1994
ومع الحظ العجيب ان تقدم في نفس توقيت ازدهار سلسلة ماوراء الطبيعة لدكتور احمد خالد توفيق في مصر

حيث المصادفة ان يكون العرض الاول للحلقة الاولي عالميا في سبتمبر 1993، ويكون العدد الاول من سلسلة ماوراء الطبيعة قبله بشهرين فحسب ،صيف 1993
،برغم من قرائتي لها بنفس الوقت وحتي شكي باقتباسها لولا توضيح احمد خالد توفيق بالتواريخ حيث وقتها لم يكن هناك انترنت بالطبع
تلك السلسلتان ساهمتا في تعميق خيالي بتلك الفترة وتقبلي للمجهول...ربما جعلتني غريب الاطوار لا يصدقه احد كمولدر، ولكنه شعور ممتع دائما بالبحث عن الأسرار

وعلمت إنها هوس عالمي بانخراطي في عشق السينما والمجلات السينمائية البريطانية التي كنت اجمعها في 1998 والفيلم الصادر بنفس العام والذي اثبت ان الحكومة تخفي اسرارا رهيبة
تجارب خطيرة علي البشر....تجارب حروب بيولوجية وحروب استخباراتيه خطيرة
ومعامل تجارب عملاقة في دول الشرق للاوسط -كما ظهرت بتونس في نهاية الفيلم- واجهزة وطائرات خطيرة وتجارب أدوية اكثر خطورة
في الفيلم الشهير
Fight the Future حارب المستقبل المظلم الذي يتلاعب به الحكومات في جينات البشر

وزاد يقيني عندما شاهدت منذ يوليو الماضي 2015 وحتي منتصف يناير 201 حلقة الخاصة بكل المواسم التسع من 1993 الي 2002 استعدادا للحلقات الست الجديدة والتي عرضت يناير الماضي
من 201 حلقة ستدرك كم الهجوم الذي لعبته تلك السلسلة علي الحكومة الامريكية والتجارب الخطيرة علي البشر والحرب الباردة بين امريكا وروسيا والتي يلعب فيها تجارب فيروسية خطيرة
في اطار ممتاز من الخيال العلمي ويربط ايضا بين الخيال وبين ظواهر عجيبة حقيقية او خيالية احيانا

بل وهناك جزء عن الايمان بالله جميل في الاحداث بالاخص من خلال سكالي
ولكن لندع الحديث عن هذا الكتاب القادم

ولكن كعنوان هذا الكتاب فإن ما يجب ان تعرفه عن الحكومة فهو إلا تثق بتصريحاتها علي الإطلاق فيما يخص التجارب علي البشر والمشاكل الصحية والظواهر الغريبة
Trust No One فلا تثق بأحد
وبالرغم من ان بعد مشاهدة 201 حلقة من الثنائي الجميل، غريب الاطوار الباحث عن الغرائب والذي يريد ان يصدق ،مولدر، والمتشككة بالغرائب وبنفس الوقت ذات ايمان ديني قوي ،سكالي،وتلك العلاقة الجميلة بين الثنائي الرائع الذي خلب عقلي
لم يأتي للاسف الست حلقات كافية علي الإطلاق

بعد 201 سهرة معهما كانت اتوق للمزيد...اكثر من مجرد 6 حلقات
لحسن الحظ نجحت نجاحا معقولا ووعدنا المؤلفين بالمزيد ولكن متي؟

ويأتي لحسن الحظ هذا الكتاب الممتاز ، 15 مؤلفا مهتما بالماوراءيات والغرائب والاكشن والاثارة والاهم، يعشقون سلسلة اكس فايلز
يحاولون كتابة 15 حلقة تتراوح بين فترة الموسم الاول وحتي الوقت الحالي
لاتسلي في قرائتها في ساعة الذئب كل بضعة ايام حلقة في نفس توقيت مشاهدة الحلقات يوميا بعد تحميلها
او وقت مشاهدتها منذ 20 عاما...قبل انتهاء حلقة اخترنا لك

والي تقييم الحلقات بهذا الكتاب بالإنجليزية


محمد العربي
من 3 ابريل 2016
ريفيو في 3 مايو 2016

[Karl]

Table of Contents:

01 - Introduction - joathan Maberry
5 - "Catatonia" by Tim Lebbon
37 - "The Beast of Little Hill" by Peter Clines
67 - "Oversight" by Aaron Rosenberg
85 - "Dusk" by Paul Crilley
117 - "Loving the Alien" by Stefan Petrucha
145 - "Non Gratum Anus Rodentum" by Brian Keene
167 - "Back in El Paso My Life Will be Worthless" by Keith R.A. DeCandido
193 - "Paranormal Quest" by Ray Garton
225 - "King of the Watery Deep" by Timothy Deal
251 - "Sewers" by Gini Koch
281 - "Clair de Lune" by W.D. Gagliani and David Benton
297 - "It’s All in the Eyes" by Heather Graham
323 - "The House on Hickory Hill" by Max Allan Collins
359 - "Time and Tide" by Gayle Lynds and John C. Sheldon
387 - "Statues" by Kevin J. Anderson
413 - Author Bios

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of these are quite good, the rest fairly mediocre, but it was certainly enough to get my X-Files fix. Standouts include The Beast of Little Hill by Peter Clines, Non Gratum Anus Rodentum by Brian Keene, Back in El Paso My Life Will be Worthless by Keith R.A. DeCandido, The House on Hickory Hill by Max Allan Collins and Statues by Kevin J. Anderson. The piece by Keene, featuring Skinner was particularly compelling and poignant, and really nails both the character and the nature of his delicate balancing act within the bureau.

[MightyA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collections of scifi horror stories written by various authors. Some are more interesting than others, but all are fun and well written. I love the fact that some of the stories are written from point of view of different characters. I find myself liking the audiobook more than the new X-Files TV series.

The narrations are great (it could be an acquired taste for certain listeners); clear voice for each character which made it easy to follow.

Highly recommended, especially to the fans of scifi horror genres.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently, a poll of TV watchers voted "The X-Files" to be the best TV show, ever. (Actually, it was a poll of Hollywood insiders---writers, actors, directors---for The Hollywood Reporter, and "The X-Files" was ranked #3 out of 100, "Friends" being #1. I hated "Friends". I'm pretty sure the vote was rigged. By the way, #2 was "Breaking Bad".)

I'm no Hollywood insider, nor am I anyone of any importance, really, but I confidently declare that "The X-Files" was, truly, the best TV show, ever. In the history of TV.

The show's creator, Chris Carter, tapped into something wonderful when it first aired in 1993. A weird but brilliant blend of police procedural, intelligent science fiction, dark fantasy, satire, and conspiracy theory nonsense, "The X-Files" was as difficult to categorize as it was impossible to ignore. Even if you weren't a fan, there's no doubt that you knew at least 10 people who were, and unless you lived in a cave throughout the entire 1990s, you more than likely knew who Agents Mulder and Scully were and could instantly recognize that annoying yet catchy bit of eerie, minimalist theme song composed by Mark Snow.

It's been almost 13 years since the final episode aired. While Carter managed to launch two feature films from "The X-Files", he was relatively silent for the past eight years. Until now. Early this year, the FOX network and Carter announced that the show would return in January 2016 for a limited six-episode run. Fans are rejoicing.

In the publishing world, IDW Publishing has recently released the first volume of an anthology of short stories devoted to "The X-Files". The first volume, "Trust No One" is edited by Jonathon Maberry and features an eclectic collection of authors.

Each short story in the anthology (there are 15 total) reads like an individual episode, so one can almost view the anthology as an entire unaired season.

The stories are all over the place, time-wise. Some are set in the early-1990s, equivalent to the first couple seasons. Only one of the stories is set in 2015, giving readers a taste of what the new season might be like.

Sadly, the stories are also all over the place in terms of quality. Only about three of four stories stand out as excellent. The rest range from mediocre to just plain bad.

The best: "Statues" by Kevin J. Anderson, in which Mulder and Scully investigate several reports of missing persons that lead them to an eccentric sculptor in the middle of Death Valley who has an uncanny penchant for creating extremely life-like stone sculptures of people; "Back in El Paso My Life Will be Worthless" by Keith R.A. DeCandido, in which a serial-killing shape-shifter in Texas has the local law enforcement stumped, so Mulder and Scully are called in; "The House on Hickory Hill" by Max Allan Collins, about an idyllic old home in Maine with a checkered past that may or may nor have a poltergeist problem; "Oversight" by Aaron Rosenberg, in which Director Skinner (minus Mulder and Scully) must solve an X-File by himself AND convince the FBI accountants to keep the X-Files division in the budget for the next calendar year.

Of course, even the mediocre and bad ones are still readable, at least. And if the book only does one thing well, it will get readers pumped for the season premiere.

One major complaint about the book: the editing is atrocious. The amount of typos, grammatical errors, and printing errors are almost unforgivable. It might be acceptable if this had been an advanced reader's copy, but I paid fucking $20 for this book, and for that price I expect the editors to know the difference between "there" and "their". Also, in one of the stories, Stephen King's name is dropped, but it's misspelled as "Steven"! SACRILEGE! Seriously, the sloppiness and carelessness evident in the book tells me that they rushed this book to print. Hopefully, the editing for the next volume will be much better.

[Josh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to believe that it's the long-time-coming revival of the TV series that has me so annoyed with this book, and that I'm simply projecting my expectations for the new episodes onto everything X, but no. Here we have a rush job cash-grab that does a disservice to those who know how to read. (Take a breath: The X-Filey stuff is fine.)

How much "editing" did Jonathan Maberry do for this book? Answer: zero. The inside cover states that the actual editor is some guy named Justin Eisinger, who should have just edited himself out of a job. Maberry, you're off the hook. This anthology is riddled with typos and unfinished changes, as well as dates and details that are plain wrong. If you're going to use the date and time stamp motif, at least get it right: one story starts at 9:46 AM with the nighttime janitorial staff entering Skinner's office, and even my main man Keith DeCandido got the year wrong in the date and time stamp of his story (1994 as opposed to 1995, an important detail as he references Duane Barry), which obviously did not get fixed before publication. I'm not a weirdo shipper who stares at gifs of Mulder and Scully holding hands or such a lunatic X-Files dork who can tell you what time Scully's clock said when the monster came to her window (probably 10:13, hurrrr) but these careless errors did detract from the stories themselves, which, like the series, range from the awful to the sublime.

The time stamps of the stories squarely place the majority of them within the first three seasons of the show, as though we're trying to recapture those most mysterious halcyon days before so much of the series mytharc became gloriously convoluted. Further, according to one author, it appears that in 1994 Skinner had a web browser on his cell phone, while I was just figuring out to wrap my modem in a blanket to keep the buzzing from waking my parents at 2AM. Lucky him.

The standout stories, despite their obvious editing flaws (Hey, Eisinger, I'd love to shit on your franchise sometime) are from vets of the series in some form, such as Petrucha's first-person narrative from Scully's perspective, daring in its own right and the only story to take such a turn, a story that would have been awful as an episode but perfect fodder for comic book or short story. DeCandido turns in a solid tale loaded with references to elements of the series that also expand the backstory of Mulder and Scully's reps within the bureau. Even our friend Arthur Dales makes a welcome appearance.

The absolute worst story is that of Tim Deal (and he had stiff competition from Paul Crilley), who can't write for shit, yet is somehow a professor of writing. The story itself had an interesting idea, and he even explored the agents' experience in a differing culture to a degree, which would have been good for a story unto itself. But, once again, the multitude of errors and typos astounded me. Tim Deal does not know how to use commas. He did not complete dialogue punctuation. He used discrete when he obviously meant discreet (PET PEEVE ALERT), and seemed to randomly capitalize regular nouns. Not to be outdone by himself, he was able to MIX UP HIS OWN CHARACTERS in the middle of a dialogue. Mahmoud and Mulder are talking about Saleh, and then all of a sudden Saleh and Mulder talking about Mahmoud. /Facepalm. There were enough typos to nearly render the story unreadable. I was THISCLOSE to highlighting every error I found and scanning them to demonstrate his incapacity, but it's not just on him. Behind every good writer is a great editor. Behind these writers is a chump.

I'm a big X-Files fan, and wanted to dig into this book. There are some creative approaches to the stories and characters that get me going, but it was a hard slog through the non-existent "editing" of Justin Eisinger, may he never find work again.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars for Trust No (audiobook) by Jonathan Maberry read by Bronson Pinchot and Hillary Huber.

This was wonderful. It was like binge watching a whole season of the X Files. It’s
15 different short stories by different authors. I hope there is more anthologies like this.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very, very mixed bag. I would give it two stars, but the stories that were good were really very good.

Some stories (Kevin J. Anderson's "Statues" comes immediately to mind, but there are several in this category) read like excellent lost episodes, and it's because of those that I'm glad I read this volume. Some stories are mediocre, far less impressive than good fan fiction that's available for free online. And others reflect only the most basic understanding of The X-Files and no respect at all for its details. These should never have made it past the editor. (Mulder's ex-wife? Scully and Mulder calling each other Dana and Fox? Conflicts with canonical episodes?) Very disappointing.

I listened to the audiobook, so I can't speak to the errors in grammar and copyediting that others have mentioned. I can say, however, that if a reader cannot properly pronounce the name of a character who appeared in the series for nine years (and, for that matter, other random words in English), then she shouldn't be narrating the stories. (Again, where was an editor? How much of a rush job was this collection?) On the other hand, Bronson Pinchot captures both Skinner and Mulder so effectively it's... well, spooky.

[AH · Rating 2 out of 5]

About 2.5 stars for the content, 3.5 stars for narration.

This is a review of the audio book which had 2 narrators: Bronson Pinchot and Hilary Huber. The narration was well done and I enjoyed listening to "Mulder" and "Scully" tell the stories.

The stories themselves were not that memorable. I can remember 2 or 3 stories that stood out for me (but unfortunately not their names). I guess this should appeal to X-Files fans, however, die-hard fans may be disappointed.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

My original THE X-FILES: TRUST NO ONE audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.


I’ve been a fan of The X-Files since it premiered on FOX way back in 1993. I remember, quite fondly, watching the premiere with my mother and then, later, with friends as a trio of us creeped-out teens went for a walk around the neighborhood in the dark following the initial airing (and only airing on FOX) of the episode “Home.” Wandering the quiet, moonlit streets had not felt like the best of ideas so soon after meeting the Peacock family. The X-Files was one of the few shows I found myself religiously tracking on then-young America Online message boards, and then, many years later, I found myself tweeting #XFiles3 along with many other fans, begging 20th Century Fox for a third movie to wrap things up and properly celebrate the show’s twentieth anniversary. A third movie never happened, but the TV show did get a small reboot on-air, with the promise of more to come. I found myself in a rare spot for a man schooled by The X-Files and Agents Mulder and Scully, as we appeared to be recapturing the cultural zeitgeist that gave rise to the series and suddenly had new material featuring the intrepid agents in the form of comic books from IDW, a fresh batch of TV episodes, and, now, this first book in a series of anthologies – I found myself believing and trusting that The X-Files was alive once again.

Trust No One, edited by Jonathan Maberry, presents fifteen short stories from various authors, each opening up a new X-Files case that finds our intrepid FBI’s Most Unwanted chasing after, or being on the run from, paranormal activity and black-suited government agents of ill repute, some of whom leave behind the strong odor of cigarette smoke. Tim Lebbon starts the book off in strong fashion with “Catatonia,” about a group of missing teens who have returned and are catatonic. My favorite, though, was Brian Keene’s “Non Gratum Anus Rodentum,” a Skinner-centric story that involves were-rats and his history in Vietnam. Like most other anthologies, Trust No One is a mixed bag. I didn’t love every story here, but there are a number of truly worthwhile X-Files investigations that deserve exploration. Other standouts includes “Paranormal Quest” by Ray Garton and “The House on Hickory Hill” by Max Allan Collins, a pair of haunted house stories with a welcome twist in each. Kevin J. Anderson, who wrote a number of The X-Files books back in the day, is a welcome and familiar voice to the anthology with his story “Statues.”

Tackling these stories are narrators Bronson Pinchot and Hillary Huber, whose duties are divided between Mulder’s and Scully’s points-of-view. Pinchot carries the bulk of this book’s fifteen-plus hours run-time, but the two narrators occasionally work together on a single story that shifts between Mulder and Scully, and Huber narrates the handful of Scully-centric stories solo. Both Pinchot and Huber deliver a solid enough narration, with Pinchot showing a dynamic range in character voices and regional accents. And while Pinchot handles Mulder’s deadpan dialogue well enough, it does take some time getting used to new, different actors inhabiting the roles that Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and supporting cast members like Mitch Pillegi and William B. Davis, have made so iconic and familiar. On the production end of things, I have no complaints. The sound quality is fine, and the audio is crisp and clean, making for an easy listen.

Trust No One may not completely capture the glory days of The X-Files, but it does provide a number of intriguing avenues for investigation. The best stories here were a delightful reminder of why I fell in love with this series and these characters way back when, and perfectly capture the tone of the series, balancing the agents’ quirkiness and skepticism, and humor and horror. Those stories alone make this worth the price of entry.

[The Behrg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dichotomy between fact and fiction, between the rationalizations of an intelligent mind and that part of us that just wants to believe, are central to what made this show as successful as it was. Sure, that loud pounding that woke you in the middle of the night after watching a scary movie could be explained in a number of ways, but you still wonder (and secretly hope) if there was something more to it. Paranormal, the supernatural, a world beyond our world that we can't see but that's there. And, of course, the conspiracies of governments trying to keep their flocks from the truth.

This is what we all want to believe, and Jonathan Maberry's excellent intro to this anthology perfectly encapsulates that secret hope we all hold to (whether we admit it or not).

As for the stories found within this volume, there are some definite wins here. A few of the authors capture the characters so effortlessly that you feel you've been transported back to the nineties, and several of the tales would have made for amazing episodes. Others feel like "filler" material, with story lines that drag and character choices that feel quite forced and unnatural. Such, I suppose, is to be expected from this type of collection, but there's a definite unevenness to the anthology in general, and it's easy to spot who's at the top of their game and who rushed to meet a deadline (not to mention who's woefully unfamiliar with the show).

The good news is that the stories that succeed make this worth checking out. Tim Lebbon, Peter Clines, and Brian Keene spin some memorable tales and a few of the weirder stories -- while far from perfect -- still stay with you. Despite the ebb and flow, it's great to get reacquainted with Fox and Mulder on a few new adventures, and fans of the TV show will have something to celebrate here.

[Veronika Sebechlebská · Rating 2 out of 5]

Návrat do čias, keď Hank Moody ešte robil u federálov.

Chcete sa báť? Chcete cítiť zimomriavky? Chcete veriť, že tam vonku niečo je?
Tak si radšej pustite toto tu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbBX6...

Lebo Akta X nikomu never vo vás ten pocit nevyvolajú. Aj keď tak zo tri zaujímavé momenty tam možno sú. Každopádne v najbližšej dobe určite nepôjdem do žiadneho kanála. Ani nikde, kde predávajú bábiky v životnej veľkosti. Ani do spustnutého mestečka v Údolí smrti.
No dobre, tri noci som musela spať so zapnutou lampičkou. Ale to sa mi stáva aj po prečítaní slečny Marplovej, takže to nič nedokazuje.

Pár poviedok sa mi celkom páčilo, takých solídnych žánrových 3,5/5, na druhej strane, štylistika a úroveň niektorých textov bola na úrovni slohovej práce maturanta, s vetami tak jednoduchými, že po ich prečítaní mi pravdepodobne bude odňatý preukaz intelektuálky, až kým nepreukážem, že som prečítala minimálne troch finalistov Anasoft litera, jedného ruského klasika a jednu feministickú spisovateľku ľubovoľného pôvodu. Ale keďže teplota vzduchu okolo mňa dosahovala 40 stupňov, bolo to vlastne ideálne čítanie.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

WHERE DO I EVEN START WITH THIS. To quote Galaxy Quest, did you guys ever WATCH the show? It’s an overly-long mix of bad writing and bad characterization. And then there’s the fact that despite the huge number of women who have written X-Files stories, 12 out of the 15 stories are by men. Look. I come into collections like these being like, okay, the writing’s gonna be FINE but it’ll be a fun story and have the characters I like. But when the stories aren’t even interesting and the characterizations are bad, you’re left with bad fanfic by people who don’t even seem to be fans. Just...stick with AO3 and avoid this.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short story collection, encompassing about 15 stories total. I am a huge X-Files fan, so of course I loved it! I am currently looking for more of these I liked it so much. Scully & Mulder are a great team and I enjoy both their banter and the cases they investigate. A must for anyone who enjoys both audiobooks and X-Files! THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. I WANT TO BELIEVE.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Solid X Files tales.
And Bronson Pinchot is a great narrator for Mulder - you could easily think you’re listening to David Duchovny.

[Jeff Heimbuch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on HorrorBuzz.

I love The X-Files. I was an impressionable youth when the first episode premiered, and despite scaring the hell out of me, I fell in love with it. So much so that I never missed an episode throughout the years, and I devoured every single piece of media that came out of it; comics, video games, books, and so on.

Of course, the show, and some of its spin-off media, had its issues, but I always overcame them. I loved the storytelling and fell in love with the characters. It had just the right amount of weirdness, and it will forever hold a place in my heart.

I was excited when they announced the revival, premiering early next year, because it was a chance to reconnect with these characters again. Sure, we saw them recently in their last film, but back on TV? Count me in!

It was shortly after that when I learned about this anthology book, The X-Files: Trust No One, being edited by Jonathan Maberry. Taking a look at the names involved, it was like a who’s who of X-Files fans who just so happened to be great writers or worked on the show in some way. Admittedly, there were also some names I didn’t recognize, but who cared? 15 new stories set in one of my favorite universes? I’m in!

Overall, I have to say I am a huge fan of the book. For the most part. While some of the stories told within are set within more recent years, the bulk of them take place within the early shows of the show, before all the really crazy stuff happened. That said, the stories range from “oh-my-god, why weren’t these episodes” to “that was pretty good” to “do you even X-Files, bro?” When a story hits, it hits hard. I’m not joking when I say some of these rank up there with some of the best X-Files episodes I’ve seen. The mysteries were solid, and the interplay between the characters felt like it was taken right off the screen.

Some stand outs, for me at least, were “Dusk” by Paul Crilley, who parodies the Twilight craze quite nicely, but also adds an X-Files creepiness to it, “Non Gratum Anus Rodentum” by Brian Keene, which highlights Skinner in a solo outing, “Loving the Alien” by Stefan Petrucha, which is told from Scully’s point of view, and “Paranormal Quest” by Ray Garton, which turns a reality TV show on its head. And those are just a handful of the ones I really liked.

That said, there were a few stories, perhaps two or three, that felt largely out of place in this anthology. While reading them, I almost felt like the writer had never seen an episode of the show before, because the characters were doing things so distinctly unlike themselves. It was almost as if the stories were written for other characters, but Scully and Mulder were dropped in as to fit this book.

I also have to mention the editing, which seems to be a complaint amongst many fans who have read this book. While Maberry is given top billing on the cover, there is another person who is credited as the actual editor of the book itself. Unfortunately, the job he did was pretty lackluster. The book is filled with typos, continuity errors, and just plain mess-ups. For example, in one story, supposedly set in 1994, Skinner breaks out his cell phone to conduct a web search. That must have been one hell of a cell phone!

Another issue I had was with the time stamp motifs that are within each story. Whenever there is a break, a time stamp is presented, much like episodes of the show. However, it just seems like they are thrown in, regardless of the content of the story. One time stamp set the action in December at 4:41 AM, while the first sentence, literally right after it, set it in November, right after school. These kind of things were distracting and took me out of the story a bit. The book could have used a much deeper editing pass to correct all of these errors, and would have been that much better for it.

Despite my complaining, I did quite enjoy the book. It did bring me back to some of the hey-days of the show, and allowed me to see these old friends in new situations. If you’re a dedicated The X-Files fan, it is definitely worth picking up. You’ll love seeing Mulder and Scully in action again, and is a great way to hold you over until new episodes arrive.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially saw this book recommended to me on Amazon and, hyped as I was about the new series coming out soon, I bought it. I didn't recognize most of the names of the authors who contributed, but I was excited anyway - I'm a big fan of the series, and it seemed like this would be a great way to revisit the hey-day of the show and tide myself over until the revival started. I'd have to say that the book was really fun overall! It was nice seeing references to parts of the series and the return of older characters, Arthur Dales especially.

The stories were like individual episodes, and for the most part I found it easy to imagine the scenes, the voices of the characters. In that aspect they were very well-written. Some stand out stories to me were "Dusk" by Paul Crilley, "It’s All in the Eyes" by Heather Graham, "Non Gratum Anus Rodentum" by Brian Keene (solo Skinner!), "The House on Hickory Hill" by Max Allan Collins and "Statues" by Kevin J. Anderson.

However, as others have commented, there were a lot of spelling, formatting and continuity errors that made me cringe, and some of the stories were really off on characterization - one story features Mulder being married which was so odd to read, because there's no context and he's certainly not married to Scully. (To my recollection, she wasn't even in that story, or mentioned at all!) The book would've benefited from a much deeper editing job; if it didn't have all of the errors I would've given this four stars. It was a fun read and a big fan of the X-Files would find this worthy of picking up.

[Toni FGMAMTC · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bunch of short stories written by different authors using characters from The X-Files. It's like a bunch of episodes. Some kept my attention, and some lost me. The short stories' classifications are varied including mystery, horror-ish, supernatural, sci-fi, etc. Overall, I didn't like more than I did. There are a couple of good ones in there, but I forgot to mark which titles I liked best. I've seen a little of the show, but I'm not an expert on it; so, I can't say how well it portrays the characters and subject matter.

[Charlie Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. I am usually hesitent about anthologies, but this one was put together really well. I thought that all of these stories were very much like the best X-Files shows. I really recommend this book.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this. Some stories were duds but some really did feel like an episode of the X-Files. That being said, I have 2 comments:

1. I listened to the audiobook and simply refuse to believe that neither Hilary Huber nor any producer/director knew how to pronounce “Frohike”????? A literal character from the show?? I almost DNFd based solely on that but then she also pronounced “gazebo” like “ga-zay-bo” and “chafed” like “chapped,” so she might just not know how to say a multitude of words.

2. I knew this already of course but I always giggle when I remember that Fox Mulder and Jimin have the same birthday.

[giada · Rating 2 out of 5]

im giving it two stars but only because it kept me company after i'd run out of new x files episodes

i seriously need these writers to go on ao3 or gossamer and read proper fanfiction

[Katee Scarlett Knittle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the X-Files. I have watched it since I was born basically. I was three years old when the first movie came out and my parents took me and my older brothers to the theater to see it. For the next 6 months, I spent my days telling everyone who would listen the entire plot of the movie. My famous childhood phrase around my grandparents was "And now we will talk about the X-Files." (I hear that story a lot.) I still sight Agent Dana Scully as who I want to be when I grow up and I am almost 21 years old. As such, there was basically no way that I wasn't go to buy this and at least enjoy it.

Like any collection of stories by different authors, some were great, some were okay, and some were pretty bad. There were a few that didn't even read like an X-Files story, or Mulder and Scully were super unbelievable or didn't act the way that they did in the show. However, the majority were pretty good. My biggest gripe is the lack of editing that was put into this. Most of the stories needed at least 2 or 3 more edits and a grammar check. Even so, I would definitely suggest this collection that anyone who loves the X-Files and can't wait for its return.


I especially liked the last story "Statues" by Kevin J. Anderson who has written some of my favorite X-Files novels. (Ruins and Ground Zero)

[Rachel B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories in this book are really hit or miss. Some are great and really capture the characterization of Mulder and Scully.
Others... Not so much. As other readers have commented, this book is very poorly edited. Not just grammar/typos, but continuity - the first date in the story says 1994, but then the next page says 1995. There were at least two stories where there were errors about what character was speaking. There are also X-Files continuity problems. I'll be honest - I'm a pretty diehard fan. And not everyone will care that actually, Scully HAS been to Maine or that no one can seem to get their eye colors right, but if you're an author in this book, you should also be a big fan, and you should know those things (and if you don't - look it up). But this would have all been fixed with a competent editor. Case in point - an author's name is spelled wrong on the back of the book. I mean, come on.

I don't blame the authors. The ideas are good. And I love this concept - it would be great if this became a regular anthology. Just with a better editor.

Worth reading for X-Files fans, as long as you know what you're getting into.

[Melissa White · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

Ok I am a pretty die hard X Files fan and I actually only read 3 of the stories and I had to stop. Honestly, I have read fanfiction that was so much better than the stories in this book. The only reason I gave this book 3 stars rather than 2 was due to Kevin J Anderson's story at the end. That one was good but I have read his other X Files novels so I suspected his story would be excellent.

The editing (or severe lack of!) in this book is also terrible. Did no one even read the first few pages before it went to print?

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really fun stuff for the die-hard fan. But there were so many typos that I found myself wondering if aliens with little knowledge of English grammar had edited it!

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

The X-Files was my favorite show growing up, and I discovered this anthology while searching for new books to enhance my rewatch experience.

Anthologies are hit and miss for me and one bad story can make or break an anthology. Unfortunately the story "Sewers" was that one story that broke it. The story mentions a sexual assault of three middle school girls and deliberately states that the girls were not sexually assaulted. Poor decision made by this editor and the story should have either had that section re-written or the story removed entirely.

The rest of the anthology was decent. Skip "Sewers" if you decide to read or listen.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 30%. The stories were so boring and both Mulder and Scully felt out of character every time. A lot of these were stories similar to something that happened on the show, so nothing felt original or interesting. It gets really old having Scully believe nothing and Mulder believe everything. There’s only so many times Scully can not see the sparkling vampire. Also yes, there was a parody of Twilight in this. This is bad fanfiction.

[Nalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a huge x files fan started to read this short story collection with open mind & low expectation. And i loved it ! there are 15 short stories based on x files lore. Some are great and really capture the characterization of Mulder and Scully. sadly only few stories utilized it.

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read a story here and a story there over a pretty good amount of time in this collection of stories. Some I remember being great; much like watching an episode of the show. Some missed the mark by a bit or didn’t seem authentic enough. But overall I’ve felt that I’ve never had a hesitancy in picking up the book and moving on to the next story, which is as good a sign as any.

[Andrew T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but I got a bit tired of it