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THE TOLL

The Toll, July 2019
by Cherie Priest

Tor Books
336 pages
ISBN: 076537823X
EAN: 9780765378231
Kindle: B07GV99Y9Z
Trade Size / e-Book
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"Pray to God that you don't find the seventh bridge..."

Fresh Fiction Review

THE TOLL
Cherie Priest

Reviewed by Magdalena Johansson
Posted January 3, 2021

Horror

Between Fargo, Georgia and the Okefenokee Swamp runs State Road 117 alongside the Suwannee River. If you drive the road from east to west will you cross six bridges, however, if you instead drive from west to east you might find seven bridges. You just pray to God that you don't find seven bridges.

Titus and Melanie Bell were not so lucky.

I've read a couple of books by Cherie Preist before and one book I really loved was THE FAMILY PLOT. So, I was thrilled to read her new book THE TOLL. What could be more tantalizing than a bridge that doesn't exist, only now and then and that demands a toll? The book is atmospheric and mysterious. Titus wakes up on the road, for some strange reason outside the car and his wife is gone. He has no recollection of what happened to her and although the cops are very helpful is he the last person to see him. And, he just doesn't what happened to Melanie. He ends off in a run-down little town with a lot of eccentric people who many seem to know more than they are telling him. Will he ever find Melanie again?

I loved this little town with all the strange people and how the bridge seems to be something that they all know about, but don't talk about. As the story progresses do we learn that Melanie is not the first person to have disappeared, but what happened to all the lost people? And, who is demanding the toll? I really liked the story and I wouldn't mind a sequel to the book since the ending was a bit open. I recommend this book warmly.

Learn more about THE TOLL

SUMMARY

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 . . .

EXCERPT

No excerpt available.

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