August 2016 Group Read Runner Up - The Troop by Nick Cutter

[Crowinator]

Tiffany wrote: "I made this my cafeteria/lunch break read earlier this year. Even though I enjoyed the book, that setting was...not ideal."

This is my favorite comment!

[11811 (Eleven)]

Michael wrote: "Count me in the group that liked The Troop, but hated The Deep. I liked the characters and believed the story in The Troop and hated pretty much everything about The Deep down to the font."

I hated The Deep so much I still get mad thinking about it. The Troop was fun though.

[Michael]

11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "Count me in the group that liked The Troop, but hated The Deep. I liked the characters and believed the story in The Troop and hated pretty much everything about The Deep down to th..."How many likes and thumbs up can I give this comment! LOL.

[Kirsty]

Part way through The Troop, enjoying it much more than The Deep. Well written and believable characters. Finding that the character of Shelley potentially more disturbing than the "monster". Interested to see out it pans out.

[Kimberly]

11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "Count me in the group that liked The Troop, but hated The Deep. I liked the characters and believed the story in The Troop and hated pretty much everything about The Deep down to th..."

LOL! I think that was how I felt, pretty much.

@Kirsty: I thought so, too.! (view spoiler)[humans always seem scarier than the "monsters", simply because we know the evil that humans are capable of. (hide spoiler)]

[11811 (Eleven)]

Michael wrote: "11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "Count me in the group that liked The Troop, but hated The Deep. I liked the characters and believed the story in The Troop and hated pretty much everything ab..."

Our reviews were similar on The Deep. We seemed to be offended by the same storytelling flaws. I highly recommend the book to everyone based on how much entertainment you can experience hating it. No offense to whoever liked it.

[Kimberly]

11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "Count me in the group that liked The Troop, but hated The Deep. I liked the characters and believed the story in The Troop and hated pretty mu..."

Exactly! I remember parts of your review--the same issues stuck out for both of us. (And quite a few others commented along those lines).

[Alissa]

I'm now 60% in and it's coming together well for me. I'm hooked. I don't know how to use spoiler tags, so I won't say much except that I'm glad my initial opinion has changed. Will see as I finish if it sticks well.

[E.]

I'm just finishing chapter 12, and I'm finding this a pretty fun read. It's squishier than I had expected, but not particularly gross. That may change.
I recently read American Psycho, and there were some mind numbingly gross bits throughout that book. Maybe it jaded me a little.
Overall, though....fun, creepy and squishy

[Crowinator]

11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Michael wrote: "Count me in the group that liked The Troop, but hated The Deep. I liked the characters and believed the story in The Troop and hated pretty mu..."

Hah, you guys are making me want to re-read The Deep and see if my perspective has changed. (And also look at the font!) (c;

[Kirsty]

Finished yesterday and really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the developing relationships especially between two of the boys. No idea how you use spoilers so can't say too much. I wasn't sure about the extracts at first but as the story progressed I liked this style of writing providing some answers without giving away too much. I'd definitely recommend it to others.

[Kimberly]

Kirsty wrote: "Finished yesterday and really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the developing relationships especially between two of the boys. No idea how you use spoilers so can't say too much. I wasn't sure about th..."

That's one of the main things I liked about it--the slight ambiguity that you have throughout, instead of just being told outright all the information. It makes you really "think" about these characters and their connections. :)

[E.]

Every now and then this book has a Stephen King feel to it. It might be because of the kids' perspective, might just be a hint of the same style here and there. He definitely influenced him.
I'm a little past the halfway point and the creep factor has increased with the "pfft pfft" flying stuff.

[Char]

11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Our reviews were similar on The Deep. We seemed to be offended by the same storytelling flaws. I highly recommend the book to everyone based on how much entertainment you can experience hating it. No offense to whoever liked it. ."

It's nice to see you around Eleven. This cracked me up. :)

[11811 (Eleven)]

Charlene wrote: "11811 (Eleven) wrote: "Our reviews were similar on The Deep. We seemed to be offended by the same storytelling flaws. I highly recommend the book to everyone based on how much entertainment you can..."

Good to see you too Char. I still quietly come and go. It's in my nature as a ninja.

[Teri]

I liked The Deep better than The Troop and have his next novel, Little Heaven, from NetGalley, but haven't gotten to it yet.

[Kimberly]

Teri wrote: "I liked The Deep better than The Troop and have his next novel, Little Heaven, from NetGalley, but haven't gotten to it yet."

I still haven't gotten to Little Heaven yet, either...

[Teri]

Hoping it leans in the direction of The Deep!

[Alissa]

I just finished. I liked it, but it didn't amaze me. It was an easy read, not as gross as other books I've read. Overall, an ok read.
(view spoiler)[I didn't buy the end with the last paragraph stating that Max was starting to feel the hunger of the worms. It was really predictable. I also wish the experiment was explained more. We just got bits and pieces. How did Tom escape? Were the boys really part of the experiment as well?(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

I really enjoyed this book. It was absolutely disgusting and reminded me a bit of Dreamcatcher (probably only because of the butt-weasel-esque worm things). The Deep is on my to-read list. I also really enjoyed The Acolyte.

[The]

Little over halfway through. I thought the first 1/4 was stronger than the second 1/4 ... too many memories and background info on each of the boys with not as much actually happening in the story. Feel like I just fell into an episode of Lost ...

[Alissa]

If anyone is interested, I posted my official review, with spoilers.

[Mixofsunandcloud]

Shelley is very intense. (view spoiler)[I never thought I would be relieved when someone drowned a kitten. After the mouse, I was expecting it to be much much worse (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

I gave up reading this. It isn't the gruesomeness. I have a steel stomach. It's the outdated stereotypes and bizarre, narcissistic narrative voice. I know that everyone can't know everything but, come on, people who live in "tiny" towns of 5000+ in Canada don't think of their skies or streets in relation to big cities. They just don't. It's like a romance writer who can't speak about a man except in relation to a woman (herself, naturally). Unless you're following a novice character into unknown territory, it reads like a secret language that only you and your buddies know.

[Mixofsunandcloud]

Finished. 3 1/2 stars. I'm rounding down because the book went immediately into the give away bag. Not even a hint that I might ever want to reread it, or that anyone I know might enjoy it.

[Terry]

Ch32 (view spoiler)[ Did anyone else cheer when the worms finally got to Shelley? I know I did! (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly B]

Terry wrote: "Ch32 [spoilers removed]"


I did:-)! I was surprised that Cutter went that route. I thought that (view spoiler)[ Shelley would probably end up being the one who would survive, and would make up a big lie about all that happened on the island. I also thought he'd end up killing more people than he did. So when he "caught" the worms I was happy;-). (hide spoiler)]

[Terry]

Kelly wrote: "Terry wrote: "Ch32 [spoilers removed]"


I did:-)! I was surprised that Cutter went that route. I thought that [spoilers removed]"

That's exactly what I thought was going to happen, too! I haven't made it much past that part yet (view spoiler)[ but I wondered if he will become a bigger monster and terrorize Max and Newt even worse now. (hide spoiler)]

[Terry]

Finished it. Wasn't sure what I expected going into this one, but it turned out better than expected. It reminded me some of The Ruins in that (view spoiler)[ it was man vs nature, and nature was unstoppable (nature had some help of course in The Troop, though). And really, the actions of some of the people turned out just as monstrous as the monsters themselves. (hide spoiler)] Went with 4 stars.

[Kimberly]

Terry wrote: "Finished it. Wasn't sure what I expected going into this one, but it turned out better than expected. It reminded me some of The Ruins in that [spoilers removed] Went with 4 stars."

I thought of that connection as well, Terry!

[Scott]

I finished this book and thought it was a great read. One of those hidden gems. I'm not sure where all the "gross" comments are coming from because I found the book relatively mild. Guess I'm too desensitized...

In my review, I called this book a mix of Dreamcatcher, Lord of the Flies and the 80's movie Squirm. It was a fun read. I especially enjoyed Cutter's character discussions, mostly the discussions that characters had with their own minds. I would highly recommend this!!!

[Kimberly]

Scott wrote: "I finished this book and thought it was a great read. One of those hidden gems. I'm not sure where all the "gross" comments are coming from because I found the book relatively mild. Guess I'm too d..."

I felt that way, too. I guess everyone's definition of "gross" is different. This didn't really bother me at all (except I don't like (view spoiler)[animal cruelty (hide spoiler)]. Funny how it's okay with the fictional characters, though. I had fun with this one.

[Scott]

Kimberly wrote: "Scott wrote: "I finished this book and thought it was a great read. One of those hidden gems. I'm not sure where all the "gross" comments are coming from because I found the book relatively mild. G..."

Kimberly, I agree on your spoiler point. I typically pass over book sections that contain those, and I found myself doing the same here.

[Mixofsunandcloud]

The parts I found most disturbing were (view spoiler)[the animal cruelty and the parts where Ephraim was trying to find the worm. (hide spoiler)]

[Obsidian]

I really liked this one much more than I thought I would. I echo someone else's comments that I wish that they had left the newspaper article and other things as the epilogue. You do get spoiled fairly early on, but maybe that was Cutter's way for preparing you for the ending.

I also (view spoiler)[was happy that Shelley died and so upset that Newt didn't live. I like how Max said in the end that Newt would have been the best dad. He would have been. I really do want to know if the boys were all part of some big experiment. Based on the testimony they appear to be, and it's sad that those families that are left will be left broken. I wish we could have found out what happened to those put on trial. (hide spoiler)]

[The]

Finished this puppy up (or should I say sea turtle? ... man, what a scene!).

Cutter definitely balanced the inner madness w/ the exterior threats better in this one than his follow up, The Deep, IMO. Really enjoyed this one.

[Kimberly]

The wrote: "Finished this puppy up (or should I say sea turtle? ... man, what a scene!).

Cutter definitely balanced the inner madness w/ the exterior threats better in this one than his follow up, The Deep, I..."

I completely agree. I felt that this one showcased the "madness" both from the main characters, and the (view spoiler)[ ones ultimately responsible/in control of the problem (hide spoiler)] in a way that left the reader more "satisfied" with the ultimate outcome.

In the DEEP, I just felt that the characters were "too" readable/predictable all around. It didn't have that same "what will happen next?!" feeling to it....

[The]

Here's my full review: (no spoilers ... mostly).

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Steven]

Ok wow, I missed this read...I have this book somewhere and haven't read it yet :( Well, I won't read any of the comments above but I might have to find it, read it, and post something :)

[JJ]

I started a casting page if this gets adapted. Who do you see playing Tim Riggs? http://www.thebookcaster.com/the-troop/

[Steven]

Just started this book and I'm really liking it. Kind of reminds me of a mix of Stand By Me mixed with Dream Catcher so far.