The Troop by Nick Cutter
My rating: 4/5 cats
best premise for a book ever.
i know people have been a little coy with details in their reviews for this, but i’m not going to be, because i think that its strongest selling point is what people have been all shy about mentioning.
so – imma just say it: tapeworms. genetically-modified, kick-your-ass motherfucking tapeworms.
the setting is falstaff island, which is a tiny uninhabited island off the coast of ANOTHER tiny but inhabited island, prince edward island, in beautiful eastern canada. a scoutmaster has taken five boys out on a wilderness survival weekend, blissfully free of pesky technology like cell phones, and everyone is going to be roasting marshmallows and earning merit badges and responsibly putting out their campfires and everything is going to be just peachy.
until a man crashes a boat on the shore and staggers onto their island looking… unwell.
turns out, science has been hard at work meddling with tapeworms for two very different clients, things have gotten out of hand, and their new island-visitor is infested with something determined to find new hosts.now it is going to be a true test of survival, as the boys and the scoutmaster have to contend with something unprecedented and way virulent. is there a badge for this situation??
maybe like that, only evil!
the best thing about these “oh, no science has run amok” narratives is how frequently these scientists fail to consider the imperatives of nature. nature is a methodical and tenacious bitch, and if you’re gonna go monkeying around with genetics and getting all dr frankensteiny in your free time, you should know that nature’s just gonna one-up you.
this is a very graphic book – resplendent gore all the way. it will make you squirm. there are unpleasant things that happen to animals (this is science after all) and also to people. if you are squeamish, trust me, it’s not for you. i am not the squeamish type, but there was a scene with a turtle which i will never ever forget.
and, honestly, the whole time i was reading this, i was so profoundly hungry. i was devouring everything in sight. i was reading this on my bed, hoovering pb-and-honey sandwiches, dripping honey all over my bedspread, thinking “dude, i had better have a tapeworm, or this book is going to make me gain twenty pounds.”
it’s so much fun, and so, so horrifying.
whe!
this is where i zip my review-lips and let you make your own decisions. i freaking loved it, and i think by now, you know if you and this book are meant to be.
enjoy!!
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pre-read “review”:
i think it is so cute that this is “a pseudonym for an acclaimed author of novels and short stories,” and then he went and put his real name next to the copyright information.
okay, that’s just good-natured ribbing. i read a book by this mystery man before and loved it, so this is just all loving-snark.
but seriously
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