Finally Read The Troop, And Damn! What a Ride!
This book has been reviewed enough on here, so I'll keep my take on it brief-ish.
Overall reviewed 5/5 🌟s! It reminded me of one of my all-time favorite movies, Cabin Fever but with horrific parasites, which is way better than flesh eating bacteria, though equally traumatic. If I had to choose, I'd prefer neither...
The these boys felt real and well-developed, like actual kids you might’ve gone to summer camp with (not that I went to summer camp 😅), equipped with flaws and weird quirks (some more bizarre than others). And you really felt for them when those who met their ends met their... ends...
The misty, northern island setting was dope! Need to find more books like that!
This book did the whole outbreak thing right, and Nick Cutter did an amazing job doing the biological outbreak version of the >!Red Wedding.!<
The >!genetically modified!< >!hydatid!< parasite was horrific. At first, I wasn't a fan of the constant back and forth between articles and research logs, etc in between the chapters (I prefer in-story reveals) as it sort of spoiled the reveals with the character when it happened to them, but I started liking it toward the end. And it was good to have the science explained from the POV of scientists since the boys wouldn't have had a good job explaining it.
I loved the science behind the parasites and how well it was covered (if you've seen my reviews, you know I love body-horror with solid science and this had it)!
And speaking of body-horror... I'm not one to get squeamish from books, shows, or movies, but this one left me with that skin-crawling trauma you get when you see a house centipede or spider right before bed and feel the sheets brushing you 😅
Also, the death that fucked me up the most was >!the turtle's... Them killing it for food and getting sad then not eating it?!< That broke me more than any human death I've read or watched in film/TV in years...
All that said, amazing book and glad I finally got it after seeing it recommended here 300 times 🤣
So, question is:
What are some recs with a group of friends ending up in a similar body horror maybe in the northeast/wood or island setting? Preferably looking for somewhat grounded, somewhat plausible body-horror or even some lovecraftian works. Bonus points if it has solid science without explaining everything and ruining all the mystery?
I've already got Spread Me (was a DNF) so no need to recommend that!
Thanks in advance!