I have discovered, in the last year of reading horror novels with my book club partner, that I am a sucker for a horror novel set in the American South. As someone who has lived in New England her whole life and has made it out west, but has yet to explore down south, the setting always intrigues me and drags me in. There is such a rich history in the south and it makes sets a perfect scene for a macabre tale.
The Toll opens with newlyweds Titus and Melanie who are headed out to the Florida/Georgia line for a week of boating in the swamps. After a weird, confusing occurrence happens to them while crossing a bridge into the national park, Titus wakes up on the ground in the middle of the road. The car is nearby with the doors open and Melanie is nowhere to be found. When the local authorities bring Titus back to town while they carry on a search for his missing bride, Titus soon discovers that missing people aren’t a new phenomenon to the town of Staywater.
The longer Titus stays in town, he more he begins to discover about the town’s secrets — including meeting a man who woke up in the road the same way he did, encountering a seemingly unstable woman who can’t let go of the search for her missing son, and hearing tales of two aging women who know more about the disappearances than they are letting on. Determined to prove to himself that he isn’t crazy, Titus takes it upon himself (with hints and bits of help from townsfolk) to find out where his wife went, even if it means confronting something supernatural.
For me, there was a lot about this story to love. For one, I found the setting to be exceptionally intriguing. Between a middle of nowhere town, that seems to have not really caught up with modern technology, where ghosts seem to be an accepted part of the community and the surrounding swamplands, I felt like my mind was filling with wonder at every turn. I felt like I was in the mildew-y library and trudging along in the mud right along with the story.
Then there were the characters. While, if I’m entirely honest, I didn’t really find any of them particularly likeable, I found all of them to be interesting. The woman tending the bar is mysterious with an air of moral ambiguity about her. I found myself rooting for Titus, even though from the outset, he was rather disagreeable. I found myself sympathizing with the woman that the town regards as crazy, but is really just on an eternal hunt to find her lost son. Every character had a dimensionality to them that I didn’t expect. And, ultimately, I think this speaks to the writing of the story. To take not shy away from having unlikeable characters, but still maintaining a level of interest with them that keeps the reader engaged isn’t an easy feat.
And while I didn’t love the ending (without spoiling anything, it didn’t wrap up all the loose ends I expected it to and in some ways I felt a little let down), I did really enjoy this book as a whole. And, unlike some other books where a less than stellar ending can kind of taint my thoughts on the whole book, I think this one is still pretty great regardless. I can’t really fault a book for leaving me wanting more. I would absolutely be interested in checking out more books by Cherie Priest in the Southern Gothic/Thriller genre.
