What happens when you combine a lethal, parasitic worm with Lord of the Flies and the small Canadian province of Prince Edward Island? You get a gut-wrenchingly horror novel called The Troop.
The Troop takes place on the small Flagstaff Island a few miles off the coast of PEI, where a Scoutmaster takes his troop of young teenage Scouts for a weekend trip to do all their Scout things. Everything seems to be going well until an impossibly gaunt man shows up on the remote island, infected by a worm that makes him eat and eat, feeding the parasite as the worm quickly eats away at his innards. Unfortunately for the troop, the worm is a highly contagious bio-weapon.
An important thing to note is that The Troop was my first venture into audiobooks. This particular book was narrated by Corey Bill, whose unique tone, cadence and form of storytelling added an incredible new layer to the story. I’ll explain more below, but I think that, while this book is good, its audio version narrated by Corey Bill is near perfection.
Let’s start with the negatives, though. First of all, I struggled to attach myself to most if any of the characters. Except for Max and Newt, I found myself not really caring about the five boys on the island. There was some development of the boys, but not enough to really make me care about them beyond “I don’t want kids to die.” Tim, the scoutmaster, had some development but wasn’t very likeable.
One of the boys, Shelly, is a psychopath. I find that having a young, soon-to-be serial killer in a group is somewhat of a cliché and, worse, is a little illogical that no one has noticed the kid in a town of a thousand or two is more than creepy. That’s all okay though; clichés exist and can be used well, and perhaps this kid (who is written to at least be clever about his actions) has just flown under the radar.
My least favourite part about this character is the vivid description of how he tortures animals. It’s sickening. That’s not an exaggeration; I actually felt ill listening to some of the descriptions and was incredibly uncomfortable listening to animals being tortured. It’s not a huge part of the book, but it felt like the longest part.
Let’s talk about the positive, though. And, just to complicate things, that sort of genuine unease can be really appealing to horror readers. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a story and felt like I had to squirm out of my car at the same time, and Nick Cutter does a great job making that sensation during other graphic, terrible parts of the book. For the torturing of animals, though, it was almost too much for me.
The author also adds an addendum to each chapter, which comes in the form of evidence logs, reports and court transcripts that are a great way to add more to the story while also filling us with dread about what’s to come. We’re told, in a single line, how many people survive the island. As we get closer to the end and we know too many people are still alive, it really made me feel on edge for chapters at a time.
The most important positive to The Troop is the quality of the writing. Nick Cutter is an incredibly descriptive writer, breathing life into things that I didn’t think I want brought to life. They create a terrifying scenario that is more fleshed out than you would think possible on a 13-square kilometre island. When it comes to writing horror, Nick Cutter is one of the best I’ve read.
Corey Bill only compliments that with their incredibly unique way of narrating. While I am an audiobook newbie, I don’t think I would have enjoyed this book as much as I did. I would have still enjoyed it, but Corey Bill made me love it. If you have the opportunity and time (it’s about 11 hours in audio form), I strongly suggest listening to this book.
Overall, I’m giving The Troop 3.5 out of 5 stars as a story, but 5 out of 5 in its audiobook form. If you like horror, are looking for great writing and are okay with feeling outright uncomfortable (while loving it), this is a must-read.