Maplecroft

This one is really hard to rate. I guess overall it gets a 3.5 from me - it starts out so strong, but suffers from inconsistencies and dumb science toward the end. Still, I loved the idea and the atmosphere so much, I'm rounding up my 3.5.

The key, enchanting question is, “What if Lizzie Borden did kill her parents, but she had a very good reason to do so, that must be kept secret?” It has to be a secret because no one would believe it, and she needs to stay free and prevent interference as she tries to defend her sister, her town, and perhaps the entire world from a force only her family has confronted . . . so far.

This was at its best when it was setting up the situation, establishing characters' relationships (the sisters' conflicted feelings toward each other, and the bond between Nance and Lizzie were key drivers of the story, and felt very genuine - also nice to see LGBTQ+ representation!). During the first half, the novel creates a sense of mystery and dread, and gets the reader invested in the players. The sense of desperation and isolation is palpable and touching.

As the story develops, Priest tries to create scientific insight and rules, a la your average zombie or vampire plot. This not only feels hamfisted, it also introduces a turn in the story where I feel like Priest or her editor lost their organizational and logical skills.

First, the wafer-thin scientific justification for a potential cure (becoming a monster involves symptoms x, y, and z, and this known infection creates symptoms y, z, and q, so . . . immunizing . . . er, no, infecting . . . ummm, both? will fight the monsters? Somehow?) is so silly as to be insulting.

Second, continuity errors suddenly abound. How many guns are in the house? (Early chapters two, later chapters, one) All the tables in the basement get overturned, but are magically back in order two scenes later. Lightning follows thunder. Tetanus comes from a well-understood pathogen, but also somehow comes from rusty iron. Lizzie hits a monster in the neck, explicitly missing its head, but two paragraphs later it has a head wound. It just becomes too much of a mess for suspension of disbelief, which is a shame because I was still very invested in the characters and I thought the evil (when not stupidly reduced to a scientific puzzle) was very compelling.

So, read this if you love eldritch monsters from the deep and Lizzie Borden, but go in knowing that it goes off the rails a bit at the end.

Overall an enjoyable enough Gothic horror tale, but a few of the characters were annoying and there are some plot holes/confusion (especially around the whole tetanus thing). Also, some of the text seemed eerily similar to parts of The Southern Reach trilogy (feeling a “resonance” and “clarity”, becoming other, etc.). It may be that both just drew on the Cthulu mythos, which I've never actually read (did I just ruin my nerd-girl cred?). Despite these quibbles, I am intrigued enough, especially by the inspector character, to read the next book in the series.

I will go three and a half stars here, but not four. I didn't pick this up for any reason other than I love Cherie Priest and I knew I was in for a good story. The premise is awesome, however warning to readers: don't expect to spend much time on the Borden murders (Priest expected you to know all about this already). Maplecroft is action-packed and full of interesting images.

Here's what I didn't love: the repetition. Because we are getting the story from multiple characters, there are retellings of plot over and over. It gets old fast, and lengthens the book unnecessarily. Two: in all honesty, because this has nothing to do with the Borden Murders, not really, Lizzie and Emma could have been any two sisters living by the sea. And the Borden thing just feels like kitsch.

Finally, Emma. For the first half of the book, Emma was my favorite character. Then something happens, something unclear to me, and she begins to change into someone else. Someone I didn't understand or like anymore.

And what is up with the Wolf?

I still recommend it over half of the other action books out there, I just didn't LOVE it. It felt disjointed.