Nick Cutter

Five boy scouts and their scoutmaster are enjoying a camping trip on an isolated island off the coast of Prince Edward Island.The first night out, a man, so deadly thin he looks more like a skeleton covered in flesh-covered paint, shambles to the cabin and begs for something to eat. The scoutmaster, a doctor, immediately realizes the man is sick but with no illness that he can recognize. His first instinct is to send him back into the forest but his oath to do no harm takes over and lets him show more in. Thus begins one of the best horror stories I have read in a very long time.

The Troop, by author Nick Cutter, is more 'ick' than 'eek' but, make no mistake, this is horror at its finest, more frightening because it is plausible. It's an experiment gone wrong...or maybe not...and the five boys, just on the cusp of manhood, are forced to fight a horror, well, I was going to say beyond imagination but, unfortunately, too easy to imagine. The motto of the boy scouts may be 'Be prepared' but no one could be prepared for this.

The boys and their scoutmaster are likeable with one exception - like all good horror movies set on isolated islands, there is a psychopath in their midst, a boy with dark disturbing hungers who may have found the perfect 'friends' to share them with. And author Nick Cutter really knows how to ratchet up the creep factor even in his descriptions:

“The beach was a bonelike strip unfurling to the shoreline. The sea advanced up to the shore with a series of minute sucking inhales. It sounded like a huge toothless creature swallowing the island.”

One caveat, though: normally, when I review a really good horror tale, I suggest locking your doors; with The Troop, I would recommend not eating. Trust me on this and thank me later. show less

First five stars of the year!!!

I cannot express how well this checked all my boxes for a horror novel. Over the top human and gore elements. Creeping horror that explodes onto amazing set pieces in perfect ichor and terror. Made me actually feel rushes of adrenaline, suspense, and excitement.

More than once I read cringing through my squinted eyes, I felt like I was watching a horror movie through my fingers with my hands on my face.

Never once did the story flag, it's pushed inexorably, show more even if you aren't quite ready for it, to an end that's believable and relatable.

My first Cutter novel, I can only hope his others are as good if not better. This novel was physical, mental, and emotional terror in hard bound form. This is pure horror from start to finish. show less

A trio of mismatched mercenaries—Micah Shughrue, Minerva Atwater, and Ebenezer Elkins, colloquially known as “the Englishman”, are hired by Ellen Bellhaven for a deceptively simple task; check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called "Little Heaven", where a religious cult holds sway. But shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. There are stirrings in the woods and over the treetops...and above all show more else, the brooding shape of a monolith known as the "Black Rock" casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust soon grip the settlement. Escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral toward madness. Hell...or the closest thing to it, invades "Little Heaven".
I’m one of those slightly weird people who loves horror movies and books. Somehow, I've got it in my head that being scared is a form of fun. Of course, I want a sturdy, closed door and four-solid walls around me:) Sadly, I've read so much of the paranormal and horror genera, that very little actually scares me anymore...so when I found a Nick Cutter book I hadn't read, I thought this might do the trick...and it certainly did. I have a slightly overactive imagination, and I don’t really like being in the dark by myself. My husband just says, "I'm weird". In spite of being "weird", I was confident that I could close the cover. put this book down, and keep my sanity, in spite of being alone, and there being strange sounds going on somewhere. This is "just a book", and a book isn’t as scary as a movie, because it doesn’t have pictures that can be replayed over and over in my mind, right? Well, I held onto that theory, until.... I discovered that. guess what... this book DOES comes with PICTURES!!! Who would put scary pictures in a book like this??? Well. Stephen King says right here in the front, that he liked it...so who am I to argue with "THE KING" of Horror?

Nick Cutter used a well-feared tactic to start to scare us...the dreaded "possessed children"!!. I ask you, who, in their right mind, doesn't find weird kids creepy? Nick Cutter begins the book with a weird kid who is being abducted by a supernatural being, so he’s also now thrown into the mix, the most common fear of all parents the entire world over: "the kidnapped kid".

However, we do get a few moments of relief in the form of some often-laughable dialogue between the three men, who are, of course, all hired killers. They may be killers but their dialog among themselves is funny, and their back stories are.... well, let's just call them "something else". This unlikely gang of three accompanies a woman into the backland of New Mexico to try to find her nephew, who has been brought to a Christian Survivalist Camp with the very, very misleading name of "Little Heaven". It’s in the "middle of nowhere" in order to help their members "find God among nature", away from the evil world’s many temptations.... Yeah, that's what they all say! When did God say to start kidnapping kids? I must have missed that one somewhere. This aspect of the story probably gives an entirely different meaning to the word "horror" to some readers. Can you hear the music from the movie "Deliverance" in your head after you learn about the village in the woods and realize that things are not quite "Heaven" in "Little Heaven"?

I really, really liked everything about this book even though, I warn you...it's gory...very gory, as well as to some it will be quite..."disturbing", for lack of a better word. I know there are many folks that not only want, but that look for "actual...real...in their face. horror" in a horror novel, nothing wrong with that....to each his own. So, if you're a member of the "Over-the -top - in- your- face horror club"...welcome home, "my child...you've come to the right place". Nick Cutter's Little Heaven is a well-written book that is well worth your time. Just leave the lights on and you'll be okay in a few weeks. show less

From the beginning of this book an ominous tone is set. From the moment the family steps foot into their new home, they notice that there are problems with it, made even worse by the fact that it was meant to represent a new start for them. They had high hopes on a house that was literally sinking into the ground, so it didn't take very long for the situation to take an even darker turn. The first project Trent takes on sees supernatural elements introduced and readers are propelled into a show more world of creepy symbols, strange occurrences, and characters who can’t be trusted. As is true of most works of horror, the story quickly slides into an unrecognizable place where characters and situations become more and more outrageous, more and more creepy, causing more and more self-doubt to the main character that it has decided to attach itself to...and in this case it's Trent. However, the question remains as to whether Trent is the one sliding into madness, or if it's the world around him...specially in the house, that is changing. Milo, the son, describes his family as having "weak spots" to begin with, and the house immediately takes that to heart and exploits that by dragging them each into a hellish world of frightening creatures that are seen in both the daytime and the nighttime. The family is allowed a few weeks of bliss once the initial scary creepiness settles down. But it is the eye of the storm, and the author shows that it is only numerous elements of foreshadowing that suggest this calm is very short-lived. Milo desperately attempts to please his father in their new home, but the house is not the only thing that is changing...Trent is changing along with the house. It seems that Milo can't ever quiet find common ground with his dad. I believe Milo's thoughts sums it up fairly well...“If he could just do that, strengthen his mind, it’d make his father happy. And when Dad was happy, the house was happy. And when the house was happy, they could all be happy.” Oh Yes...you diffidently want this house to be happy! show less