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stephen_arvidson's review
4.0
“So which one of us gets to use the stun gun on the Boston Strangler over there?” –Mulder referring to an elderly druggist (p. 18)
Howlers, a young-adult novelization of The X-Files episode titled “Unruhe” (German for ‘Unrest’), is set in Traverse City, Michigan. FBI Agents Mulder and Scully assist local law enforcement in tracking a serial killer who kidnaps women and lobotomizes them; their only clues are distorted photographs of the victims taken prior to their abduction. The situation intensifies when Scully herself becomes the killer’s next target.
Howlers is an overall faithful adaptation of an exceptional X-Files episode. The appropriately paced narrative was not as superficial as some of the other novelizations in this series, and the author maintains a sufficient amount of suspense from start to finish. The whole psychic photography element is an interesting hook; however, it seems entirely incidental to Gerry Schnauz's past trauma and his murderous pathology. Up until Mulder shows one the photographs to Gerry, the killer had no idea he possessed the ability. Moreover, I've always been troubled about how exactly the ability to manipulate photographs came to him in the first place. Was there some kind of severe accident he suffered as a child? Or is there some kind of warped electric field residing within his body that somehow manifests his thoughts onto any photographs that enter said field's radius? Moreover, if the phenomena is merely Gerry’s subconscious thoughts impressed on film, then how was his own subconscious able to perfectly predict his death while the other photographic images were so abstract?
Open-ended questions aside, this is a worthwhile read for younger readers or anyone with an interest in the series. While the paranormal element of the case is an ancillary hook that merely served to get Mulder and Scully on the case, readers will likely be intrigued by the story's exploration into the pathology of a serial killer and whether or not human monsters like Gerald Schnauz can ever be understood.
Howlers, a young-adult novelization of The X-Files episode titled “Unruhe” (German for ‘Unrest’), is set in Traverse City, Michigan. FBI Agents Mulder and Scully assist local law enforcement in tracking a serial killer who kidnaps women and lobotomizes them; their only clues are distorted photographs of the victims taken prior to their abduction. The situation intensifies when Scully herself becomes the killer’s next target.
Howlers is an overall faithful adaptation of an exceptional X-Files episode. The appropriately paced narrative was not as superficial as some of the other novelizations in this series, and the author maintains a sufficient amount of suspense from start to finish. The whole psychic photography element is an interesting hook; however, it seems entirely incidental to Gerry Schnauz's past trauma and his murderous pathology. Up until Mulder shows one the photographs to Gerry, the killer had no idea he possessed the ability. Moreover, I've always been troubled about how exactly the ability to manipulate photographs came to him in the first place. Was there some kind of severe accident he suffered as a child? Or is there some kind of warped electric field residing within his body that somehow manifests his thoughts onto any photographs that enter said field's radius? Moreover, if the phenomena is merely Gerry’s subconscious thoughts impressed on film, then how was his own subconscious able to perfectly predict his death while the other photographic images were so abstract?
Open-ended questions aside, this is a worthwhile read for younger readers or anyone with an interest in the series. While the paranormal element of the case is an ancillary hook that merely served to get Mulder and Scully on the case, readers will likely be intrigued by the story's exploration into the pathology of a serial killer and whether or not human monsters like Gerald Schnauz can ever be understood.
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