The Troupe

I had been expecting a more of Hell Train like romp.  However, after reading I found I was making more comparisons with Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. 

Young and talented pianist George is tracking down his father.  Where his quest leads him is to a mysterious vaudeville troupe, where audience members only have a vague recollection of their performances.  George soon finds that he is not the only one looking for his father, and after integrating himself within the troupe starts to learn the many secrets of this small group.  

 My opinion of The Troupe is that it was a more intelligent version of The Night Circus.  Less focused on spectacle and romance and more on plot and lies, I found The Troupe to be a captivating read, that was not only enjoyable, but made me think about literary type things.  The characters are all written very well, every aspect of their personality is informed by their back story.  As for the narrative that followed young George's point of view, I found that even when plot twists were obvious to me, they wouldn't have been obvious to George, so the narration always stayed true to his observations as a cocky sixteen-year old-boy.  The scope of the novel was also interesting (tangents that included the creation of the world, and then stepping into the world of the fey) as it wasn't limited to the usual horror fare, and this made me question why The Troupe is placed in the horror/paranormal section while something like The Night Circus is in the 'normal' fiction section of the bookstore.  All these queries aside, The Troupe is a mesmerising page turner that rattles against the boundary of its genre.