Book Review - The Troop by Nick Cutter

Title: The Troop
Series: -
Author: Nick Cutter
 
Description: 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 as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder – shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry – stumbles upon their campsite, Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of terror. 
 
Review: Tim is a scoutmaster who, once a year, takes a group of young boy scouts into the wilderness of Canada. Their fun camp trip is disturbed when a strange man visits them, seemingly hungry and very thin. What happens next is something no scout master could ever have prepared them for.
 
Nick Cutter (an alias for author Craig Davidson) has written a book with all the elements for a good horror story: characters you care about, with actual flaws and development, who are thrown into a situation that grabs you by the throat.
 
Even though we mainly follow younger characters, this is an adult horror. Cutter manages to be very detailed and descriptive in his story and it’s very fast paced. And the book is really shocking, disturbing and gory. Major trigger warnings if you have a weak stomach and you can’t deal with body horror and gore. With that, a lot of animal cruelty as well. Those parts in the book were sometimes too hard to deal with, so I had to put the book down a few times just to catch my breath.  
 
The boys in the troop are very well fleshed out, the character building is really strong. Kent is a popular kid, handsome, a future captain of the football theme and son of the police chief. He is used to get his ways and is prepared to fight. Ephraim has a lot of rage in him, he doesn’t want to be an asshole, but he has trouble managing his anger. His best friend Max keeps him calm, the level-headed one of the group. Shelley and Newt are the outsiders. Newt is chubby and dorky, the one that people pick on, the constant target, only because of his appearance. Shelley has a very dark side. People call him “slow” and “retarted”, but there is a lot going on in his head that you can’t tell from just looking at him. And being left alone with four other boys on a secluded island, brings out that dark side.
 
“The Troop” reminded me of movies like “The Thing”, or “Slither”, but it’s also clear that horror master Stephen King was an inspiration for Cutter.
 
I think that “The Troop” is the most disturbing novel I’ve ever read and I loved it. It’s so well-written, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, well-developed characters and a true page-turner. If you’re a horror fan, this is a must-read. Not for the squeamish.
 
Rating: 5/ 5