Swamp Thing... A review of Cherie Priest's "The Toll"

Swamp Thing

"The Toll" by Cherie Priest 

A book review

To be honest, a cabin holiday in a Florida swamp sounds like a terrible idea for a honeymoon.  On their way to the Okenfenokee Swamp, newly-married couple Titus and Davina Bell are already having pesky arguments, mainly about this weird choice of holiday which Titus insisted upon.  If only he knew what was coming for them…   

The Bells are driving across a strange and ancient one-lane bridge when the young husband loses consciousness at the wheel.  He wakes up to find himself lying in the middle of the road.  The engine is still running but Davina seems to have disappeared into thin air.  The local Police, though sympathetic, sound quite sceptical.  But Titus is quite sure that they are keeping something back from him.  And he is right.  In the nearby town of Staywater, this mysterious disappearance raises disturbing memories of a mysterious being which lives under the bridge: an entity supposedly slain years before by the now elderly cousins Claire and Daisy, but which seems to have returned to extract its toll…

The Toll is a fun horror book which taps into several different streams of Southern Gothic.  There is the “grotesque” element as represented by the eccentric, if not downright crazy, characters who live in the tiny settlement of Staywater.  There is an underlying sense of danger coming from the hostile environment: the treacherous swamps, the roaming giant alligators.  But above all, the novel exudes a sense of supernatural dread – it is haunted not only by the presence of the malevolent entity, but also by other weird goings-on such as a house full of possessed dolls, and ghosts who roam the town and chat matter-of-factly with its inhabitants.  All these ingredients are moulded into a novel which is, at its best, spine-tinglingly scary. 

If I must criticise the book, it’s because sometimes it has the feel of an unfinished draft.  Some passages of dialogue sound repetitive and could do with some judicious editing.  The attempts at humour sometimes fall flat, especially during key set-pieces in the final chapters which would have had greater impact had they been conveyed as unadulterated horror.  Several plot elements remain unexplained or unresolved – I kept hoping, for instance, that there would be some backstory concerning the family of Cameron, Claire and Daisy’s ward.   

Despite these reservations, The Toll remains an interesting and entertaining addition to the Southern Gothic canon.  I also feel that its coming-of-age elements (courtesy of Cameron, one of the main – and most likeable - characters) could make it appeal to the YA market as well.

Paperback, 336 pages

Expected publication: July 9th 2019 by Tor Books