The Troop – Nick Cutter
100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: On a small, desolate island in the Canadian wilderness, a group of Scouts and their physician Scoutmaster encounter a danger far greater than even their nightmares could’ve imagined.
Expectation: Your standard gore fest.
Reality: An old school throwback gore fest with a surprising amount of heart.
Recommended For: Folks that love well-told spooky stories and can also stomach a significant amount of body gore and animal abuse.
Why I Read It: It was an Apple Books impulse purchase in late 2019.
My Take:
In the author’s note, Nick Cutter — a pen name for Craig Davidson — notes that the structure of the story was influenced by Stephen King’s “Carrie,” and he did that classic of the horror genre justice with this disgustingly enjoyable coming of age gore fest.
While not everything worked, “Troop” was elevated by the author’s care with the six main characters. Each person was fully formed, and it made you invested in every single one of their experiences.
I got surprisingly choked up near the end, because I felt so sorry for what was happening to them. This is not the type of horror story where you recoil but secretly enjoy the gore, it makes you sad because it’s rooted in humanity. You want the happy ending that is out of reach.
This being my second read by Davidson — the first being the surprisingly sentimental “Saturday Night Ghost Club” — I’m beginning to see that adding humanity to genre fare is what sets him apart from contemporaries. Yes, you get the fright, but you also get the heart — and I’ll take that old school approach any day. He may be my new go-to horror writer.
What I liked:
The structure — the use of news clips and government reports that anchored certain chapters helped move the story along when it was getting a bit repetitive.
The tone — it’s part “Stand by Me,” part “Cabin Fever” and part “Lord of the Flies” but still felt original. Davidson is clearly a lover of classic horror — especially King and Hitchcock — and he adds the winks and nods that pay homage.
The slow build — the tension he builds is like watching a mouse trapped in a cage with a snake. It’s not an immediate threat but it slowly sneaks up on you and there’s no way out.
The writing — Davidson has a knack for writing about teens as they are while not being patronizing. This works to great effect here.
The pandemic elements — it has been fascinating to read pandemic-focused novels the past few months, and there are a few eerily accurate moments here.
What I didn’t like:
The gore — the older I get the more difficult it is for me to deal with gore for gore’s sake, and I have little tolerance for animal abuse. Unfortunately both of those things factor heavily. Don’t eat while reading/listening.
The length — about 50-pages could’ve been shaved from this novel. About every bad thing that could happen on the island happens – outside of the main threat – and it started to feel a little long-winded.
The threats — [spoiler alert] the main threat — a bio-engineered tape worm — was disturbing enough. I didn’t need Shell’s full embrace of his psychopathic tendencies too.
If you can stomach the gore — and I cannot understate how gross the story gets — then you are in for a treat. As a hybrid read/listen, I was also impressed with Corey Brill’s narration. He is the go-to for Davidson’s other works, so that will likely be my preferred format moving forward.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Formats: eBook (personal library) + Audiobook (library loan) hybrid read/listen
Dates read: October 24 – November 3, 2021
Multi-tasking: Good to go. It’s better to keep your mind distracted during the gorier sections.
