Renowned nuclear weapons researcher Dr. Emil Gregory's dead body is discovered in a California government facility - charred to a radioactive cinder. The FBI is called in to investigate the bizarre death, and Agents Mulder and Scully are assigned the case, since they specialise in the strange and inexplicable, and in the secrets the government wants to remain secret... But keeping the truth under wraps might be the least of the Feds' problems, especially when a second, unrelated victim is incinerated in the New Mexico desert... and a third dies equally horribly in Washington, D.C. Suddenly Mulder and Scully have to unravel a twisted, sinister puzzle that could have terrifying consequences for the entire world...

I was a little surprised to see that Titan Books had reissued six books from The X-Files series of original novels in preparation for the release of the new movie, Want to Believe. You can pick up the original releases (in either hardback, paperback or audio cassette) for 1p each plus P&P from Amazon, so I couldn't work out who would want to pay £7. But, then I suppose these are targetted at a whole new generation that may have been too young to watch the TV series, but have gone to see the new movie and will then see these book in their local bookstores. The six re-releases include Goblins, Ruins, Whirl Wind, Skin, Antibodies and Ground Zero.

Ground Zero is written by fan favourite Kevin J. Anderson and sees a renowned nuclear weapons researcher found charred to a radioactive cinder. Mulder and Scully are called in to investigate and it's not long before more bodies start piling up and the pair realise that this twisted puzzle could have fatal consequences for the entire world.

Anderson works his usual magic, stepping into the characters of Mulder and Scully in such a way that you almost believe you're reading the transcript of one of the TV episodes. Anderson has managed to capture the voices of the two main characters, not always an easy task, as well as giving us new characters which effortlessly lift off the page.

If you already own this book then there's very little point in purchasing this edition. While the cover states that the book includes new bonus material, the additional content isn't all that exciting. All you get is a two-page retrospective interview with Gillian Anderson (conducted in 2002) and a six page preview of the soon to be launched book The X-Files Book of the Unexplained.

It's a shame that a new series of books wasn't commissioned for the movie's release. But, if you don't already own Ground Zero from it's original release and really want this new edition rather than the old version of the book, then this is an entertaining read.

7

Nick Smithson