Nick Cutter's Blog: IT HAS BEGUN, page 2

KIRKUS REVIEW

... maybe you agree with it? Maybe you don't? Maybe you haven't read the book and are curious. Whatever the case, here's a pre-publication review.

THE TROOP
Author: Nick Cutter

Review Issue Date: October 1, 2013
Online Publish Date: September 18, 2013
Publisher:Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Pages: 368
Price ( Hardcover ): $26.00
Publication Date: February 25, 2014
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-4767-1771-5
Category: Fiction

Some thrillers produce shivers, others trigger goose bumps; Cutter’s graphic offering will have readers jumping out of their skin.

Scoutmaster Dr. Tim Riggs takes his troop for their annual camping trip to Falstaff Island, an uninhabited area not far from their home on Prince Edward Island. The five 14-year-old boys who comprise Troop 52 are a diverse group: popular school jock, Kent, whose father is the chief of police; best friends Ephraim and Max, one the son of a petty thief who’s serving time in prison and the other the son of the coroner who also serves as the local taxidermist; Shelley, an odd loner with a creepy proclivity for animal torture and touching girls’ hair; and Newton, the overweight nerdy kid who’s the butt of the other boys’ jokes. When a skeletal, voracious, obviously ill man shows up on the island the first night of their trip, Tim’s efforts to assist him unleash a series of events which the author describes in gruesome, deliciously gory detail. Tom Padgett is the subject of a scientific test gone horribly wrong, or so it seems, and soon, the scouts face a nightmare that worms its way into the group and wreaks every kind of havoc imaginable. With no way to leave the island (the boat Tom arrived on is disabled, and the troop was dropped off by a different boat), the boys fight to survive. Cutter’s narrative of unfolding events on the island is supplemented with well-placed interviews, pages from diaries and magazine and newspaper articles, which provide answers to the reader in bits and pieces—but perhaps more importantly, it also delivers much-needed respites from the intense narrative as the boys battle for their lives on the island. Cutter (who created this work under a pseudonym) packs a powerful punch by plunging readers into gut-wrenching, explicit imagery that’s not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach.

Readers may wish to tackle this heart-pounding novel in highly populated, well-lit areas—snacks optional.

All best, Nick.

The Stephen King Quote

Hello,

Some readers have noted a discrepancy between the acknowledgements in the arc or pre-release copy they've read and the quote from Stephen King that is now being used to promote the book (which, after all, is the point of blurbs).

Regarding the quote: when I wrote the book and the acknowledgements, Mr. King had not read the book. The usual procedure, in order to solicit blurbs, is to approach authors with ARCs, such as the one you may have read/are currently reading. It's better to send ARCs than sending the manuscript as a Word .doc or even a .pdf; it's the closest the book will be, physically, to the product that will eventually land on bookshelves—thus, you've got the best chance for a blurb.

So anyway, Mr. King received te book AFTER I wrote the acknowledgements. Perhaps he may've read the acknowledgements too, and saw how I'd mentioned the unlikeliness that he'd ever set eyes on it ... funny the way the world works.

There was some thought to changing the acknowledgements to reflect this, but I'm sort of glad it's staying as-is (although, as of this writing, it will be amended in foreign editions and may ultimately be changed for the North American editions, too). Why was I happy to let it be as-is? Because it was a shock and a thrill to get the blurb, to know Stephen had read a single word I'd written, and as such that makes the acknowledgements a bit more touching perhaps (albeit confusing ...)

So anyway, long story short: when the ARC and acknowledgements were written, Mr. King hadn't read the book and I didn't expect he ever would; a month or so after the ARCs had been circulating, he somehow came into possession of one and furnished the blurb, totally unexpectedly.

So yes, he has read the book and the blurb is genuine. I imagine that, as great of a selling-point as a King quote is, the legal headaches that Simon and Shuster would encounter from using a fake quote wouldn't make it worth their while.

And while blurbs and hype are nice, any book has to stand on its own merits (or fall on its own demerits) anyway.

Such is the chronology of The Blurb That Wasn't (Then Was).

All best, Nick.

BLURBS AND ANOTHER BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Blurbs can be important to a book's success. Not always—ultimately it's what's between the covers, not the blurbs on those covers—but the endorsement of an author can really help. From a writer's perspective, it's often very cool because sometimes, if you're lucky, you get a blurb from someone whose work you admire a lot. In which case it's kind of surreal: Here's this writer who I love, who I grew up reading, who has now read something I've written—and blurbed it!

These two blurbs are from writers I greatly admire. The first I grew up reading (as did many of my generation); the second writer I came to later in my reading life, but I admire him deeply as well.

Thanks immensely, fellows!

"THE TROOP scared the hell out of me, and I couldn't put it down. This is old-school horror at its best. Not for the faint-hearted, but for the rest of us sick puppies, it's a perfect gift for a winter night."

—Stephen King

"Nick Cutter's novel, THE TROOP, reads like a comic book, and I mean this in the best possible sense. Cutter's storytelling is lean and crisp and delightfully over-the-top. Think TALES FROM THE CRYPT think early Crichton, think King on coke. This book should be sold as a diet aid. If you have even the slightest fear of parasites, it'll put you off your food for weeks. It's a disquieting, disturbing, and occasionally downright disgusting story. It's also great fun to read."

—Scott Smith, author of THE RUINS and A SIMPLE PLAN

In other news, there's another book giveaway from the publisher. 30 copies to be given away. Enter July 29-Sept 13. Check the giveaway link to enter.

http://bit.ly/13pwIdg

Good luck!

Yrs,
Nick.

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS!

Hello Friends,

Read the book? No? No worries. Plan to? I hope so. If you do, perhaps you'll have a question afterwards. Leave it here and I'll make sure I respond in a timely fashion, providing I'm not attacked by wild dingos, as can frequently occur in the Canadian city where I reside (Toronto, where more babies are eaten by feral dingos than the Mayor will ever admit to!) and am convalescing in the hospital.

Yrs,
Nick Cutter, Esq.