Book Review: The Toll by Cherie Priest
The Details
Media Type: Audio Book
Title: The Toll
Author: Cherie Priest
Narrator: T. Ryder Smith
Publisher: Recorded Books
Pages/Length: 9 hours and 24 minutes
Release Date: July 9, 2019
Source: Library Borrow
State Road 177 runs along the Suwannee River, between Fargo, Georgia, and the Okefenokee Swamp. Drive that route from east to west, and you’ll cross six bridges. Take it from west to east, and you might find seven.
But you’d better hope not.Titus and Melanie Bell leave their hotel in Fargo for a second honeymoon canoeing the Okefenokee Swamp. But shortly before they reach their destination, they draw up to a halt at the edge of a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car . . .
When, much later, a tow-truck arrives, the driver finds Titus lying in the middle of the road, but Melanie is nowhere to be found.
The Narrator
T. Ryder Smith does an excellent job with this audio book, I must say! From the drawling, old-fashioned voices of Cam’s adopted aunts, to the frustrated and terrified voice of Titus, there is a voice that fits everyone perfectly. I have actually owned this in print for a while, but I’m glad I waited to listen to it on audio. Smith’s voice brings this to life in a way that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
The Review
I picked this book up on a whim the month after it came out, and it has been sadly sitting on my shelves since then. I think that all bookworms can attest that they have their fair share of backlog book buys. Anyway, when I saw this audio book added to my library system, I knew that it was time to dive in. I’ve been intrigued by Cherie Priest’s blend of southern gothic and horror for a while. The Toll just seemed like something that would be right in my wheelhouse. A mysterious bridge that appears and then people disappear? A tiny town in the middle of nowhere, with a dark secret? What’s not to love?
First off I have to say that if you have a chance to pick this up in audio form, please do it! T. Ryder Smith does such an amazing job of bringing this story to life. Cam’s elderly aunts had my heart from the first moment that they stepped onto the page. The book opens on their tiny home, where Cam feels like the walls are closing in around him. Despite his deep love for this adopted family, Cam wonders what is going on beyond his small slice of the world. Nothing happens in his small town. Or does it?
Cherie Priest takes the reader through a twisting mystery that is definitely uncomfortably dark at times. I loved how there is hints at the magic that runs through this town, but nothing is ever hammered down. Instead the reader is taken into that gray area between worlds, where things that we are not meant to see lurk in the darkness. In the case of Titus, and his unfortunate wife, these are hungry things that demand a toll. There is so much atmosphere wrapped up in this book. From the bleakness of the town, to the desperation of the townspeople, and back around to Cam being the one shining light through it all.
My biggest issue with this book was honestly just the pacing. It takes a good while for things to get going well enough for the story to really take off. While I was happy to follow Cam, with his rebellious little personality, it felt like those “creature” horror movies. You know the ones. Where the creature isn’t revealed until the very end, and even then only for a few seconds? I will say that The Toll doesn’t go that far. The ending of this is actually rather satisfying, if not quite what I expected. Still, I felt like I just wanted a little more forward motion to this story.
I had a blast reading it though, so it gets a solid 3-star rating from me! I’ll be over here, eagerly awaiting more.
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