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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Lame, September 29, 2010
This was not what I expect when I read an X-Files novel.
I never once felt any sense of urgency or concern for the characters in the book. Scully and Mulder felt like they were actors being played by people trying to mimic what they saw on the show. The supporting cast of characters was so bland and undeveloped that when one of them would die I would scratch my head and try to remember just who they were.
The "Goblins" were pretty boring too, not much to them other than they could change the color of the skin and they kept stabbing and killing random people.
Also, is it just me or did the author spend waaaay too much time talking about what the characters were wearing and what they were eating?
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Readable, but the words "bland" and "generic" come to mind, July 25, 2009
I've had this book for years, having purchased it back during the series run. Now that I've finally read it some 10 years later, I am certain I would have enjoyed it more back in 1995.
Others have pointed out that the writing is ho-hum at best, with awkward turns of phrase and more than a few typos (not the author's fault). There are a few moments of solid Mulder/Scully interaction, and the idea of the whirlwind itself is interesting.
Here is my dilemma - if this weren't an "X Files novel" then it would be a very ordinary book. The story line is okay, the execution of said storyline a bit off, some of the plot points a bit too pat, some of the characters a bit too stereotypical. However, if this weren't an X Files book it wouldn't have been written the way it was. The real issue here is that I feel the author rested too much on his laurels as part of the X Files genre, knowing that it wouldn't have made the grade as a stand alone book.
I wouldn't bother with this book - most episodes of the series do it better.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
This Whirlwind never really gets off the ground, March 18, 2004
This review is from: Whirlwind (The X-Files) (Mass Market Paperback)
Whirlwind is the second TV tie-in novel based on The X-Files. One can't help but compare this to the first novel, Goblins, as both books were written by Charles Grant. While Whirlwind seems more readable than Goblins, in the end Grant once again comes up a little short. His characterizations of Mulder and Scully saw improvement in this novel, but there were still bits of dialogue here and there that just didn't sound like something the agents would say. A bigger problem is found in the characterization of all the other characters, some of whose actions really aren't adequately explained in the context of the novel. The explanation behind the crimes presented here also falls short of believability. The heart of this particular X-File involves a most unusual serial killer (indeed, I would not use the term serial killer in this context - but the back cover of the book uses it). It all started with a string of cattle mutilations, a subject even Mulder isn't very interested in. Then a local sheriff of a small New Mexico town asks for FBI help when a honeymooning man and wife are killed in the same horrible fashion, and Mulder and Scully are initially assisted on the case by an agent from the regional FBI office. The manner of death in these cases is enough to make Scully uneasy looking at the remains, as basically the victim's skin is shredded and removed from the body - possibly before death, as it happens so quickly. I should mention the fact that it is very hot in the New Mexico desert - the author certainly mentions that fact a lot. Anyway, Mulder and Scully begin the investigation, ask questions that most folks don't seem to want to answer completely, and find themselves wondering what if anything the local and extremely private Konochine Indians might have to do with the unexplained murders. Whirlwind just didn't manage to satisfy me. The reality behind the mystery is rather fanciful, yet it also manages to come across as too pat of an answer. A more penetrating examination of the important characters - those on both sides of the law - would have helped in this regard, I feel. One character is seemingly dropped like a hot potato midway through the book, and another essential character's erratic behavior is explained away a little too easily for me. I love the X-Files, but, in my opinion, Whirlwind is really just an average novel.
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