High ick factor, but predictable story and hardly thrill

The scenario of Nick Cutter's new horror thriller The Troop is simple, but very simplicity made me immediately on the book curious. While gaining the author with his Boy Scout troop on a deserted island not just the originality prize, but I like this spatially highly restricted and reduced to a few characters setting just always happy. In addition, The Troop has at the same time also a certain old-school charm and reminds not without reason to genre classics such as William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The conditions are explained quickly, presented the few protagonists as quickly and it does not take too long before the horror in Cutters novel has made his first appearance in the form of a sinister disfigured nocturnal visitor who is driven by a strange unbridled hunger and throws everything in his search for food in the throat, which also appear in the least edible. The stranger asks for shelter for the night and although you cry out loud as a reader and want to keep the head of the scout troop with a vengeance of this course can be attributed to the risk of the good is finally doctor and it brings the best will not have the heart, dismissed the man in the middle of the night. And where should he go elsewhere size

Of the ingredients ago that now sounds like the classic scenario Killer decimated little by little the group on the desert island which, however, is not the way you already can see the blurb of the book. The threat here is different in nature and will be the readers also revealed a very early stage and with extremely unsavory embellishments. Whoever stands on horror stories with a high ick factor, comes with The Troop definitely at his own expense. Nick Cutter not shrink from very dramatic descriptions and an extremely regular use of such back Namely and who has a sensitive stomach, should maybe better take advantage of this novel distance.

Disgusting, the story is so ever and thus also sometimes a bit disturbing, but it has managed cutter at any time, also causing a corresponding thrill for me. This is to a large extent the fact that me its kind of threat and horror has simply not addressed at all in the form that I particularly shocking or frightening found it and also against the ever-repeating disgust passages I was hardened relatively quickly. It lacks The Troop simply on a gripping story, because in this respect, the action from start to finish is entirely predictable and there is strictly speaking not a single real surprise or unexpected twist. Unfortunately, the author also uses its island setting not out, because who has hoped, among other things due to the Scout characters on a relentless Survival trip, will be bitterly disappointed.

And with the characters we were already talking about the next problem. Of course I expect from a horror thriller not particularly deep draft, but you really have in a group of five 14-year-old boy but not graze every teen cliché: The beloved by all sonny boy, the irritable bully who somewhat restrained Nerd and who can not be missing? the nerdy nerd who is of course a little fatties, knows everything and has it in even the most vain scout badge. But even such a clever fellow, the group can not stop them, to behave like idiot and bring again and again unnecessarily in danger, although one would have to know better apparently.

But it is also not all bad. Cutters writing style is quite successful and also borrowed from Stephen King's horror classic Carrie narrative with newspaper reports, interview excerpts or small reports adds variety and interesting new angles. But for a novel that advertises labeled A novel of terror and the King quote The Troop scared the hell out of me on the cover, the book is ultimately amazing harmless, stress and fear. Too bad, because at least in one scene (the setting of the kidneys struggle for survival of a turtle) shows Cutter that he is quite a narrative force in the situation which he but too rarely fetches.