The Troop by Nick Cutter

It’s been a long time since I read a book that had me holding my hand up to my mouth so many times. Technically you do that to stop bad things coming out, hence it is a reaction to lying, but in this case, I think it was to make sure nothing tried to crawl down my throat. In terms of a visceral experience this book seriously delivers.

Who am I to disagree with Stephen King, this is a real old school horror. It takes a while to build into the story and to reach fever pitch levels but when it does it does not let go.

I hear some people could not put this down, I actually had to keep putting it down every ten minutes just to breathe some fresh air and let my brain reset.

I understand from the Author he was somewhat emulating the structure of Carrie with his use of interview and notes in between chapters, but in this case I found it a bit distracting. Some of them were great and worked and made me literally squirm but some really broke up the action and gave away too much. The second I knew the number of survivors, it became a distraction for me as I could not help but focusing on who I wanted to make it.

I’m really glad I read this despite the fact that it made me feel very uncomfortable. I honestly wish I had found more enjoyment in it but the Author did too good a job at getting into my head. 3.5 stars

For you sick puppies out there!