The Troop

Nick Cutter

Feb 2014 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

WINNER OF THE JAMES HERBERT AWARD FOR HORROR WRITING

“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

Once every year, Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a weekend camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story around 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. A horror that spreads faster than fear. A harrowing struggle for survival with no escape from the elements, the infected…or one another.

Part Lord of the Flies, part 28 Days Later—and all-consuming—this tightly written, edge-of-your-seat thriller takes you deep into the heart of darkness, where fear feeds on sanity…and terror hungers for more.

Ratings and reviews

This started out as a slow and predictable read for me, but quickly changed due to the side story between the scouts. Also, taking a fairly well known subject and turning into a horror experience, was masterful. I am still chilled by the subject. Kent seeing his deteriorating image as beautiful and supremely powerful was also incredible invention. I loved the read! thanks!

You have to stick with it to get to the good parts. The beginning is a little stale but it ties up nicely. I gave it four stars because of the beginning. I felt the beginning could have been more detailed and less centered on certain characters than others. After the first quarter of the book the rest is 5 stars. A book as specific and centered on something that I had no idea as this he did a wonderful job explaining things in simple but intriguing ways!

It had some great creepy parts and I liked how the main narrative was interspersed with interviews and news articles which explained things in a nice way. However, I felt the book was meandering at times -- the author sure loves long, descriptive paragraphs which I honestly don't care for. Overall though, it was good, gross fun.

About the author

Nick Cutter is the author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller The Troop (which is currently being developed for film with producer James Wan), The Deep, Little Heaven, and The Handyman Method, cowritten with Andrew F. Sullivan. Nick Cutter is the pseudonym for Craig Davidson, whose much-lauded literary fiction includes Rust and Bone, The Saturday Night Ghost Club, and, most recently, the short story collection Cascade. His story “Medium Tough” was selected by author Jennifer Egan for The Best American Short Stories 2014. He lives in Toronto, Canada.