XFiles: Shapes, by Ellen Sleiber (HarperCollins, £3.99 in UK)

By Ellen Steiber based on the teleplay written by Marilyn Osborn after the television series created by Chris Carter, that is; and a drearily pedestrian end product it is, too, lacking the pouting prettiness of TV's Mulder and Scully, minus creepy soundtrack and eerie special effects and all the rest. For my money X Files on audiobook, as read by the jaunty Kerry Shale, are a better bet by far; and if you must have aliens on paper there are those smart hardbackjobs with the spaceship silver covers. But for hopeless addicts, these paperbacks are a quick fix, and cheap at the price.