A Canadian Boy Scout Troop ventures to an island of Prince Edward expecting a weekend of merit badge work; instead, a sick man comes ashore and brings with him a horror that will test them all.
I picked up The Troop because Stephen King had lended his voice to its accolades. I believe the phrase he used was something like “classic horror”. I agree. The book definetely leans on some classic elements. In the forward, Cutter references Golding’s classic The Lord of the Flies. This novel could be construed as a horror reimagining. Many of the characters have a 1:1 mapping between Ralph, Piggy, Jack, and others. When that became apparent, I felt something lost in the book. A book should stand on its own, but once you see the correlation to Golding, you can’t look away. That said, if you can detach yourself, The Troop is a fun read!
It’s pacing is well done; characters are belieavable and the actions some of them perform, powered by the machismo of young teens so easily remind one of the horror of The Lord of the Flies.
I do wish Cutter hadn’t revealed the end so early in the book. There is a trial going on, parallel to the story, but chronologically taking place AFTER the island thriller is resolved. In that trial, it is rapidly revealed where this is all going which I think takes something away from the story. I want unknowns. I want to burn for that ending. >!e.g. I knew too early on that the worm wouldn’t become a global pandemic and that one (or: only one) person would survive.!<
That said: it was a fun piece of escapism.