The Toll

by Cherie Priest

Overview

A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST HORROR NOVEL

From Cherie Priest, the author of The Family Plot and Maplecroft, comes The Toll, a tense, dark, and scary treat for modern fans of the traditionally strange and macabre.

Take a road trip into a Southern gothic horror novel.

Titus and Melanie Bell are on their honeymoon and have reservations in the Okefenokee Swamp cabins for a canoeing trip. But shortly before they reach their destination, the road narrows into a rickety bridge with old stone pilings, with room for only one car.

Much later, Titus wakes up lying in the middle of the road, no bridge in sight. Melanie is missing. When he calls the police, they tell him there is no such bridge on Route 177 . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765378231
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/09/2019
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	340,319
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

CHERIE PRIEST is the author of Boneshaker, the first book in the Clockwork Century series; I Am Princess X, her YA debut; and several other novels. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/25/2019

Priest (The Family Plot) spins a small, swampy urban legend into a riveting, swelteringly atmospheric story that questions just how far the residents of a Southern town will go to forget, or appease, a past they cannot bear to confront. Cameron Spratford has lived with his elderly cousins Claire and Daisy in Staywater, Ga., since his parents abandoned him there as a toddler. Although everyone in Staywater encourages Cam to leave, he is content to remain—until Titus Bell arrives. Titus and his wife, Melanie, are traveling through the Okefenokee Swamp when they arrive at a strange, one-lane bridge. Sometime later, Titus wakes up in the middle of the road, alone. He makes his way to Staywater and, while awaiting news of Melanie, begins to shake the secrets of the town loose. Cameron gradually discovers the truth about the bridge outside Staywater, the role Claire and Daisy played in bringing peace there once, and what they are willing to do to keep Cameron safe. Priest keeps the supernatural elements grounded by developing nuanced characters who feel as though they could walk off the page. Moody and mysterious, this gothic tale touches the heart even as it wraps chilly fingers around the spine. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Toll

“A masterpiece of disquieted tension.”—New York Journal of Books

Praise for The Family Plot

“Priest has written an excellent modern house story from start to finish.” —Publishers Weekly, stared & boxed review

“Highly recommended.” —Booklist, starred review

Praise for Cherie Priest

“Cherie Priest is our new queen of darkness, folks. Time to kneel before her, lest she take our heads.” —Chuck Wendig

“With Maplecroft, Cherie Priest delivers her most terrifying vision yet—a genuinely scary, deliciously claustrophobic, and dreadfully captivating historical thriller with both heart and cosmic horror. A mesmerizing absolute must-read.” —Brian Keene

“One of the best Lovecraftian stories I’ve ever read.”—io9 on Maplecroft

“There are few writers I'd rather have keep me up half the night than Cherie Priest.” —John Scalzi

From the Publisher