A review by skroot
The Troop by Nick Cutter

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I really liked the extreme depictions of gore and body horror in this book, I thought the author did an excellent job in the scary/disturbing department. I also thought the story was very interesting and loved how everything was gradually revealed with the newspaper clippings and interrogations at the end of chapters. Those moments where certain things were revealed about the contagion were the best parts of the book for me.

What knocked it down for me though was the kids. Every single kid in the group (except maybe one) fits a certain stereotype, and their defining character traits are cranked up to 100%. I just didn't think it was very realistic writing.

edit: adjusted rating a bit, the writing of the characters sours my view of the book a lot but the horror aspects are great if that's what you're looking for