XXX [Mass Market Paperback]

Mel Odom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2002

This newest action thriller from the team of director Rob Cohen and star Vin Diesel (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) follows Xander Cage, a charismatic extreme-sports fanatic who is recruited by a secret government agent (Samuel L. Jackson) to infiltrate a Russian crime ring. He becomes an X-Games version of James Bond, skateboarding down flights of stairs and snowboarding down avalanches to save the world from bad guys. Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) is an underground extreme-stunt star-he's cool, chrismatic, covered in tattoos, and he likes to spend his days performing wild, illegal stunts for the video cameras of his devoted fans. When the US government, in the form of a secret agent named Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), finally catches up with him, he's given a choice: doing time in federal prison, or serving the government he's spent his life defying. His mission is one no other agent has been able to survive: He must infiltrate a Russian crime ring that has come into possession of Silent Night, a secret formula that will enable them to destroy the world. Now, with only his own cunning and athletic ability to rely on, Xander, or Triple X, has to win the trust of the criminals-including the sexy, mysterious Yelena (Asia Argento)-and find a way to stop them from succeeding in their deadly mission.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mel Odom lives in Moore, Oklahoma, and is the author of several novels, including novelizations of Blade, Tomb Raider, and Vertical Limit and novels based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. One of his latest books, The Raver, hit Booklist's Best of 2001.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060514698
• ISBN-13: 978-0060514693
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,023,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write in a number of fields, but always with the hope of telling an interesting tale that will incite a reader to think for himself or herself, to examine his or her own place in the world, and offer a little nudge in the direction of dreams, faith, and personal growth in spite of whatever odds a person has to face. I also believe we were all put here for a purpose. Hopefully, several purposes. I'm a father, a little league coach, a teacher, a friend, and a writer. I struggle to keep that balance, as many of us do these days, but I hold tightly to the belief that I'm doing all I can be doing, and doing what I should be doing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Vin Fan, August 25, 2003

By 

Patricia F. Kerwood (COHOES, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: XXX (Mass Market Paperback)

I personally did not like the book, I usually try to read a book fully before I give an opinion, but the only thing that kept me reading it after the first 2 chapters is the fact is that it was based on a Vin Diesel movie. Thank Goddess that the book was based on the movie and not the other way around because the book [was bad]. The only good thing about it was the pictures in it and I tore those out and haven't looked at the book since. That book was completely and totally bad (and not in a good way), I did not like it. In the book Xander Cage was a cocky, arrogent a$$hole, thrown into a situation against his will and deserved to be shot...several times. In the movie Xander Cage was a charismatic, funny, handsome stud who was thrown into a situation against his will. While Cage whined his way through the book giving totally not funny retorts, Cage fought his way through the movie giving oh so funny retorts. I recommend this book to no one, I'm surprised that I haven't burned my copy yet. I'm giving this book two stars because of the pictures and the pictures alone.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The book is good but the movie is much better!, September 16, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: XXX (Mass Market Paperback)

When action movies are made into novelizations they kind of lose their action movie-ness. For example: When Xander is going down the mountain with a furious avalanche following, you cannot turn that into words. Plus the other negative of this book is that it is too long. 69 chapters, almost 400 pages long. The movie is only 2 hours 2 minutes, you can squeeze that into 230 pages. Books like "Spider-Man" and "xXx" need too only be 150-250 pages long. The entire "A Walk To Remember" novel was only about 250 pages and the movie was only 1 hour 42 minutes. Oh well, complaints aside: this is a pretty good book. I recommend it only to people who have seen the movie and miss the action. People who expect every single bit of dialogue from the movie will be missing some words or so. So what, you say, well lets just say when replacing those words you get stuck with lots of scenery setup described word for word, wall for wall. But check it out!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The book wasn't better!, September 1, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: XXX (Mass Market Paperback)

When I first saw the the xXx book on the shelf, I was completely suprised that someone would turn a movie like that into a book. I wasn't really sure if I was going to like it. I began to read it and soon found myself struggling to decide whether I liked the book or the movie better, each has advantages. Some advantages that the book had were that you really got inside the minds of the characters and some of the more confusing aspects of the movie were explained. Also, it had some scenes that weren't in the movie.The advantages of the movie were that everything was more realistic.Also, Vin Diesel brought a certain essence to the character of Xander that the book couldn't portray. My only suggestion is that you should go see the movie first and then read the book. I don't think I would have understood the book unless I saw the movie first. Over all it depend on what you like, you like movies see the movie, you like books read the book.