A review by kimberlyswalters
The Troop by Nick Cutter

adventurous dark funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

I had to stop reading this book several times. I'd read in forums that this book was too gory, too disgusting, too much. I thought people were exaggerating. They're not.

It was very well-written and the concept was good, but there was too much detail. I learned too much about some of these characters, especially Shelley.
I honestly don't believe we needed to know that he was erect as he murdered that poor kitten. Things like that are just thrown into this book for shock value and add no substance to the story. The worm swimming into his urethra was disgusting, but that's fine because it explains how they infected him. The erections were pointless and weird to imagine when reading a book about minors. I do know that serial killers do feel that way about their heinous acts of violence, but I don't need to know that about this child. It happens multiple times throughout this story. Bleh.
Is it scary? No. Is it gross? Absolutely. I'd only recommend this abomination to those that just want to read about some gross worms and gets off to body horror.
I'd recommend this to Shelley.


Overall, it was well-written and I genuinely enjoyed Max, Ephraim, and Newt. I don't think Kent's character was fleshed out enough for me to care about him. His father's character made more of an impact. I am not a religious person by any means, but I do think the author may benefit from Jesus and some therapy. In fact, I need therapy after reading this. My appointment is scheduled for three weeks from now. I'm not hopeful that I'll make it until then with this content wiggling around inside of my head. 
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