A modern Lord of the Flies

Be warned: Don't listen to this while you're eating.

Nick Cutter presents us with a modern-day Lord of the Flies. With a balls-to-the-wall circus of gore and viscera flung at you until the very end. And while it definitely fits well into the its label of horror, it doesn't transcend it; unlike the more heavy hitters in the genre. But Cutter certainly does know horror well. His descriptions of gore and even retelling of simple memories, are twisted into something macabre; inciting squeamish disgust in listeners. At times, Cutter uses too heavy a hand with the memories. The plot scarcely moves forward before one of the boys remember something gross in their childhood and it becomes almost rhythmic, and listeners fall into a pattern. The characters themselves are flawed, though quite one dimensional. The boys all fulfill a stereotype except for Max, whom is so vaguely constructed that he would be utterly forgettable, if Cutter didn't have big plans for him in the plot.

But perhaps this reception of the boys is due to the narration, which is monotone at best. And downright lazy at worst. Corey Brill reads the novel like he's never read it before. Every time he reaches the end of a chapter, usually a time for narrators to construct some sort of distinct tone, he make it an anticlimax. So much so that listeners can almost believe he is mid sentence, before the next chapter starts. So it's no surprise then that his dialogue lands flat. And while his monotone is a compliment to the gore in the novel, it feels more like a scientist droning about his research, than an actual horror novel.

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3 people found this helpful

Slow build, but a great final act

I found this a tough one to get through at first, but really enjoyed the final conclusion when more of the origin of the infection is revealed. This is very much a body horror story so is not for the squeamish at all. There's also a couple of fairly graphic scenes involving animals that are not pleasant to listen to (and not easily skipable in the audio book format). Overall though, this is definitely worth a listen if you enjoy body horror with a bit of sci-fi mystery blended with Lord Of The Flies.

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full on, but good full on

the troop is a standout in the genre. i enjoy couldn't put it down. Great work to the author.

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En(gross)ing

The performance of this text is superb and really brought it home for me; a subtle emotionality that I found gripping.

The book is gross in a good way and I found I had to take breaks regularly, especially during horrific sequences that weren’t even necessarily to do with the horror aspect of the story.

Satisfying in a way that kept me wanting more. I love the closed environment that the story was set in (on an island); a bottle piece with a wide neck. Took a wee while to keep track of the characters but ultimately grew to understand them as unique from each other. Just don’t pick favourites…

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Fantastic

"Lord of the flies" meets Stephen King's "Thinner". Fantastic and well written. Gruesome and thoroughly engaging.

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One of the best books I’ve read this year

The troop was an incredible & often uncomfortable read. It’s story leaves you guessing what for & what’s next
I highly recommend listening/ reading to the Troop & am looking forward to reading more from Nick Cutters

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Great story

Has everything you’d expect in a horror book. Only a couple of the kids were particularly likeable so felt no connection when the dying began. Definitely hard to put down, needed to see how it ended.

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Great! Except…

I found the story very compelling, but hoo boy the detailed animal torture scenes are difficult to get through.

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Unexpected storyline, refreshingly good

I really enjoyed and would recommend.
Storyline is fantastic, it goes to unexpected places and really did keep me guessing.
The narrator is only slightly annoying, I give him a 7.5 out of 10. sometimes he makes weird sounds like a screach or a moan or a groan as the story requires but it gets a bit over the top.
it's very descriptive and at times I zoned out because I don't love over explaning (there was an entire chapter on killing a turtle). however that might be your bag so all good.
Good level of gore and definitely made me not want to eat at times because of the ewww factor.
Worth a listen! Do it!

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true horror

true adult horror. so much horror books are written for 12 year Olds where it feels like pg15 horror. this book ironically feels like it was written for adults.

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