The Toll by Cherie Priest
There’s nothing I like more than in the fall than to curl up with a scary story. I scour the internet looking for recommendations and ‘Best Of’ lists. I want something that makes me leave the lights on at night. I want to see things out of the corner of my eye and distrust every shadow.
So, when The Toll came up in several lists of top scary novels, I thought it would be the perfect thing to get me in the fall spirit. However, that’s not quite the experience I had with this book.
When Titus and Melanie are on their way into the Okefenokee swamp for their honeymoon when they encounter an odd bridge. A few minutes later, Titus wakes up in the middle of the road. The bridge is gone and so is his bride. The residents of nearby Staywater have seen this all before and want nothing to do with it. But will they be able to just sit back and watch it happen again?
For starters, I’m not a big fan of monsters. And that’s more or less what lies at the heart of this book. I don’t mind a vampire here or there (though I think they have been overdone recently) but I’m not a zombie fan. And demons, poltergeists, leprechauns, and their ilk don’t give me the heebie jeebies.
That’s not to say that this is a bad book. It was well written and really created a mood. There were a lot of atmospheric details that really put you into the Southern Gothic frame of mind. And the subtle magical realism was refreshing.
However, I wouldn’t list this as a book that made me jumpy or even mildly afraid. Part of that is that, perhaps unintentionally, the author frequently cut the tension of the scene with humor. And so instead of being ratcheted up, it released the pressure.
All in all, I’d give this 3/5 stars because it was still an interesting read, if not the one I had initially signed up for.
