The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Movie Tie-In)

( 1 )

All Available Formats + Editions

——

$7.99

NOOK Book

——

$7.99

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Movie Tie-In) (eBook) Pub. Date: 10/13/2009 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
$0.01

$7.99

Paperback

$0.01

$7.99

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (Movie Tie-In) (Mass Market Paperback) Pub. Date: 7/29/2008 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Advertising

Overview

In the bitter heart of a brutal winter, women are inexplicably vanishing in rural Virginia. The only clues to the bizarre disappearances are grotesque remains—human remains—that are turning up in snow banks along the highway. And a disgraced priest has begun to experience strange and disturbing visions possibly connected with a terrible secret. But are the images haunting a fallen man of God to be trusted . . . . or are they the deadly lies of a twisted mind?

It is a case right out of the X-Files. But the FBI suspended its investigations into the paranormal years ago. Ex-agents Fox Mulder and Dr. Dana Scully are the best team for the job, but they have no desire to revisit the past. Still, the truth about these horrific crimes is out there . . . . and only Mulder and Scully can uncover it.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780061687716
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 7/29/2008
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 760,862
Series: X-Files Series
Product dimensions: 4.10 (w) x 6.70 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Max Allan Collins is the author of the Shamus Award-winning Nathan Heller historical thrillers. His other books include the New York Times bestseller Saving Private Ryan and the USA Today bestselling CSI series. His comics writing ranges from the graphic novel Road to Perdition, source of the Tom Hanks film, to long runs as scripter of the Dick Tracy comic strip and his own innovative Ms. Tree. Collins is also a screenwriter and a leading indie filmmaker in his native Iowa, where he lives with his wife, writer Barbara Collins, and their son, Nathan.

Read an Excerpt

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Chapter One

Rural Virginia
January 6

The day had been so overcast, Monica Bannan barely noticed dusk settling in, the last cold light of day doing its best to hold on to the somber colors of winter, and failing. Skeletal trees and occasional farm buildings were black shapes against a darkening sky, but Monica found them comforting, soothing, not forbidding, much less foreboding. Only when her car's headlights came on automatically did she realize that darkness was upon her.

The heater purred and she was almost too warm in the hooded sweatshirt, down vest, and sweats. Her curly blonde hair, however, combed back, damp (from her swim on the way home from work), would freeze out in that chill wind. But it would be only a few steps from her carport to her warm house. She could risk it.

With no makeup on, and her prominent nose, Monica looked almost plain, though she really was quite attractive—in her youth she had even done some fashion modeling. Now, approaching thirty, she was one of that army of professional women who worked for the government in nearby Washington, D.C.

She'd had a typically long, not particularly memorable day, and looked forward to a quiet evening in front of her TV with the fireplace going behind her and Ranger, her German shepherd-ish mutt, curled up beside her on the couch, big head in her lap.

The little housing development loomed ahead, dark boxy shapes in the descending night. The snow had stopped mid-afternoon but the roads were still slick enough, with patches of black ice, for her to take the turn into the settlement of small houses with extra caution.

Soon, however, without incident, she was pulling into the driveway and up into the carport beside her single-story clapboard house, its lights mostly off. Had her eyes been on her rearview mirror, she would have seen the bulky figure passing behind her, blushed red in her brake lights, ever so briefly.

But she did not.

She switched off the ignition, her medical ID bracelet swinging to strike the dashboard lightly, and she was about to go in—her things in the trunk could wait—when she heard Ranger going nuts in there.

By all rights she should have kept the animal outside—hadn't she gone to the trouble of putting in a doghouse in back? But with this cold, this awful goddamn arctic cold, how could she do such a thing to the only male in her life right now?

So Ranger was in there, yapping his head off, but it took a moment for her to realize that this was not a display of welcome-home affection, rather a vicious growl-tinged round of barking of a sort usually reserved only for cats and squirrels.

Monica opened her car door and stepped out, yelling, "Ranger! Be a good boy! Settle down in there! It's just me . . ."

But she had not even started toward the nearby house when she saw something that contradicted her: footsteps in the snow.

Monica froze in place, almost literally, her damp hair already stiffening despite the hood; she was still under the roof of the carport, if barely, her mind working to overcome the fear rushing through her bloodstream.

If Ranger was barking, these footprints were fresh . . .

She took a step back, Ranger's frantic muffled barking still in her ears, her eyes searching the back wall near where she stood, where an array of gardening tools nestled, waiting for better weather. Perhaps one of these could provide the weapon she needed to help her make that short, endless trip to the house; she had a gun in there, after all.

That was when the figure in heavy winter gear, thermal jacket bulging like steroid-enhanced muscles, appeared before her, breath pluming, the big man's face barely visible in the near darkness, though she somehow made out rugged angles and light-color eyes colder than the wind.

He saw her.

He moved toward her.

He reached for her.

She grabbed up the gardening tool with its soil-ripping attachment and, as if she were carving her way through dense jungle, drew it back and came down with it, swinging it, slashing.

His gloved hands came up, reflexively, but the sharp prongs caught a wrist, tearing flesh, and leaving red jagged trails across one cheek as well.

Ranger's barking seemed to pick up as Monica spent half a second marking her path to the house, but the next half second took that possibility away, as another intruder stepped out of the dark to block her.

This second big bulky figure in winter gear had long, dark, greasy hair and an angular, unforgiving face from which breath emerged like smoke.

Rasputin, she thought.

The gardening tool, with its long handle, was too big and awkward to run with—a part of her brain chastised herself for not grabbing something smaller—and she could do nothing else except toss the thing toward the first intruder. The second one had his hands on her, grasping at her, but she was already running, taking off toward the woods way at the rear of the row of houses.

Once in the trees she could circle around and get help from a neighbor; but first she needed to get away from these hulking attackers, put some space between her and them . . .

She was in good shape, and she was slender and lithely muscular and she could make it. She could make it.

Only they were as fast as they were big, and she could hear their footsteps behind her, crunching snow and ice and the twigs and leaves beneath, and their heavy but not labored breathing made a disturbing percussive counterpoint to her own fear-tinged, quicker intakes of breath, cold steam streaming from her lips.

Words from the Frost poem tumbled in her brain in a refrain of quiet hysteria: Woods are lovely dark and deep . . . miles to go . . . promises to keep . . .

And they were on her.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5

( 1 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

Anonymous

Posted August 12, 2008

I L.O.V.E the X Files.

Anyone who is an X File fan it is a must read book. I cant wait to see the movie. Beautiful, haunting, and at times romantic. All the old characters are all together and working as a team. I really did enjoy this book, from front to back.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Anonymous

Posted January 16, 2010

No text was provided for this review.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble