The Troop
By Nick Cutter
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 9781476717715
Amazon Synopsis:
"The Troop scared
the hell out of me, and I couldn’t put it down. This is old-school horror at
its best."—Stephen King
It begins like a campfire story: Five boys and a grownup went into the woods...
It ends in madness and murder. And worse...
Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder stumbles upon their campsite—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. An inexplicable horror that spreads faster than fear. A
It begins like a campfire story: Five boys and a grownup went into the woods...
It ends in madness and murder. And worse...
Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder stumbles upon their campsite—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. The human carrier of a bioengineered nightmare. An inexplicable horror that spreads faster than fear. A
harrowing struggle for survival that
will pit the troop against the elements, the infected…and one another.
Part Lord of the Flies, part 28 Days Later—and all-consuming—this tightly written, edge-of-your-seat thriller will take readers deep into the heart of darkness and close to the edge of sanity.
Part Lord of the Flies, part 28 Days Later—and all-consuming—this tightly written, edge-of-your-seat thriller will take readers deep into the heart of darkness and close to the edge of sanity.
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My Thoughts:
This was truly a scary book! It’s definitely science
fiction/fantasy, thriller and probably could easily be placed in horror, too.
Warning: you might not want to read this late at night before you go to sleep.
I don’t often read books of this type, but this was a good one. Stephen King
said it scared him, so that should tell you something.
Five fourteen-year-old boy scouts go off on a camping trip
with their scout leader on a deserted island not too far away from home for the
weekend – something they do every year. Only this year is different. A stranger
wanders into their camp, extremely gaunt, and hungry, VERY hungry.
Nick Cutter delves into the psyche of each of the five
campers as they experience the terror of the weekend experience. For some of
the boys, their “darker” side comes out and for others, their stronger, more
courageous emerges.
The sickness that the stranger has brought is so contagious
that merely touching him can pass on the infection. But this is an infection
like no other. Bio-engineered in a laboratory, this contagion is not a virus,
but something supposedly created as a weight-loss aid. In reality it is much
more sinister than that, and incredibly deadly.
This novel was very gripping. I had to keep reading to find
out what happened to each of the boys. It is a rather dark novel, so it isn’t
one for those who like a happily-ever-after ending. There is a fair amount of
coarse language in it which I didn’t think necessarily added anything to the
book, so you’ll have to skip over those words if you don’t like reading that
kind of thing. I thought the book was fascinating and worth reading enough to
do that.
I did like the style that Mr. Cutter used to provide the
reader information that the main protagonists don’t have (newspaper reports,
reports from investigations after the incident etc.). I also liked the way the
author wrapped things up at the end of the book after the return to the
mainland (I won’t say more than that for fear of spoiling things for those who
haven’t read the book).
This was a horrifyingly fascinating novel. I gave it four
out of five stars. Thriller and horror
readers will love it.
Thank you to the publisher, Gallery Books, via NetGalley who
provided an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. A
positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.
About the Author:
I've written a few other books under another name (the one
my parents gave me). A few story collections, a few novels. One of them even
got turned into a movie. I've written for magazines and newspapers, too. I
cobble together a living with my pen, is what I'm trying to say—by hook or by
crook. It's a lean living sometimes, but it's by and large an enjoyable one.
I live in Toronto with my fiancee and our baby boy, Nick ... so, yeah, the pen name is a little bit of an honorific for my son, too; we'll see, in time, if he thinks that was such a hot idea!
I live in Toronto with my fiancee and our baby boy, Nick ... so, yeah, the pen name is a little bit of an honorific for my son, too; we'll see, in time, if he thinks that was such a hot idea!
Connect with Nick Cutter
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