Survival Of The Fittest
Reviewed by Tim McCree
September 2004

BOOK: Survival Of The Fittest
AUTHOR:  Jeff Mariotte
NOTE: This review may contain plot spoilers.

It’s Charmed meets the X-Files, sort of.

In San Francisco, a number of women have been reportedly abducted by aliens, but they are then mysteriously returned. Once back, the women seem to become obsessed with an exercise program, run by a woman named Meg Winship. Literally hundreds of women have fallen under Meg’s spell, and some will do anything for Meg, even kill. As Phoebe, Paige, and Leo try to figure out just what is going on, Piper too falls under Meg’s sway.

Just who or what is abducting women throughout the city? Just how does Meg Winship and her exercise cult fit into this? Can Phoebe, Paige, and Leo figure out a way to snap Piper out of Meg’s spell before it’s too late?

To tell you the truth, I had mixed feelings about this book, it seemed more X-Files than Charmed in some places, both Roswell and Area 51 are referred to. I kept expecting Mulder and Scully to show up! However, once you clear away the UFO smoke, the story does start to pick up its pace, especially towards the end of the book. Once the Charmed Ones get on the case, you know that they’ll eventually uncover the truth, which they do, of course.

Once again the characters of the Halliwell sisters are spot on. It’s funny but I still like Phoebe in the books, although I’ve come to greatly dislike her on the show itself. Paige too is done right in this book, as are Piper, Leo, and Daryl. Piper’s worries about the plumbing problems at P3 are believable, running a night club is no easy task, not even for a witch. Leo’s concern for his wife, when Piper comes under Meg’s spell, is well done. He is deeply in love with her and will do anything to save her.

The funny thing about the book is that the Charmed Ones are so skeptical when it comes to believing in UFO’s. You would think that with all they have seen in the past six years, they would have a more open mind, but I guess some things are too out there even for a witch to believe in.

Some other points:

1. Once again it is not clear when this story takes place in relation to the show. Cole seems to be gone, he is not mentioned at all, and Wyatt has not been born yet. In fact, the story mentions Piper and Leo planning to have a family, which means she hasn’t even conceived Wyatt yet. I guess the only way around these conundrums is to place the books in a separate reality from the show.

2. The Spider Demon is referred to, although not seen. This is a nice nod to the Season Six episode that said Demon appeared in.

3. Phoebe and Paige going around questioning Demons is an interesting, albeit, dangerous way to gather information. Still they pulled it off.

4. I’ve beaten this dead horse on episodes of the series and now I bring it up here. Some humans in this story died while the sisters were present, yet they saw no spirits. Once again I point out that witches usually see spirits when someone dies in their presence.

5. Speaking of which, one of the humans that dies is a fellow reporter that works at Phoebe’s newspaper. I really saw no purpose for his character in this story, it seemed that he was only there to get himself killed. You could have cut him completely out of the book and it would not have affected this story one bit.

All in all, I have to admit that this story just didn’t grab me like the previous books have. I leave it up to you readers to draw your own conclusions, but I give this book a 6/10 rating.

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