X Marks the Spot Book

X Marks the Spot, which is intended for a juvenile audience, is a novelization of The X-Files' pilot episode. The narrative varies significantly from the broadcast episode, likely because this novella was based off an earlier draft of the script. Several key characters from the episode were absent in the novel, including Cigarette-Smoking Man (CSM), Section Chief Blevins, and Dr. Heitz Werber. Interestingly, though, the book presents us with Special Agent Jones, an acknowledged precursor to the Smoking Man. Jones disposes of all the material evidence from Mulder and Scully's investigation, though not in the Pentagon basement as we see CSM do in the pilot. Jones is an interesting character, nonetheless, his attitude toward Mulder seemingly more sympathetic than that of the Smoking Man.

Scully's introduction to the mystifying X-Files division appears deeply influenced by The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris's visionary masterpiece. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the female lead is first encountered as she reports to a briefing at FBI HQ as opposed to running an obstacle course a la Clarice Starling. Despite her limited time with the Bureau, Scully strikes audiences as a competent doctor and a highly qualified agent. Even so, the opening chapters of X Marks the Spot (and even the corresponding episode) are reminiscent of Clarice’s first encounter with Jack Crawford.

X Marks the Spot is recommended to young readers unfamiliar with the show or, perhaps, avid X-philes with a keen interest in seeing how the original shooting script of the pilot episode might have looked. Les Martin's writing is basic and unremarkable, and throughout the life of this novelized series he never really finds his mark. By far my biggest problem with this novelization was the stilted dialogue, particularly the uninspired interplay between Mulder and Scully that felt so manufactured as to be uncharacteristic of the two iconic FBI agents.