Gillian Anderson — best known for playing supernatural skeptic FBI agent Dana Scully on The X-Files — is now an author, and her first novel is being described as a "supernatural/science fiction thriller."


Carolyn Kellogg at the Los Angeles Times reports that Anderson's book is titled A Vision of Fire, and co-written with bestselling author Jeff Rovin. The synopsis reads as follows:

Renowned child psychologist Caitlin O'Hara is a single mom trying to juggle her job, her son, and a lackluster dating life. Her world is suddenly upturned when Maanik, the daughter of India's ambassador to the United Nations, starts speaking in tongues and having violent visions. Caitlin is sure that her fits have something to do with the recent assassination attempt on her father—a shooting that has escalated nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan to dangerous levels—but when teenagers around the world start having similar outbursts, Caitlin begins to think that there's a more sinister force at work. In Haiti, a student claws at her throat, drowning on dry land. In Iran, a boy suddenly and inexplicably sets himself on fire. Animals, too, are acting irrationally, from rats in New York City to birds in South America to ordinary house pets. With Asia on the cusp of nuclear war, Caitlin must race across the globe to uncover the mystical links among these seemingly unrelated incidents in order to save her patient—and perhaps the world.


Dun dun DUN. Sounds good — and like it could get the movie studios sniffing around. The hardcover hits stores in October; whether or not there are any secret nods to Scully and Mulder (or the Cigarette Smoking Man) will be revealed at that time.