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Maplecroft (The Borden Dispatches, #1)

Cherie Priest

Start date: December 12, 2014

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What Members Thought

Apr 03, 2014 Christal rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, arcs, multiple-leads, demons, alt-history, zombies-and-ghouls, lesser-known-creatures, gothic, new-series-trusted-author, dark

See this review and others like it at Badass Book Reviews!

I personally enjoyed Maplecroft but the first thing you need to decide before picking up this book is if you can tolerate a story where Lizzy Borden killing her parents is given a paranormal reasoning. Since this is a fictional take on a historical event, the "explanation" given for the murder in this book might bother some readers and I think it is best for them to stay away. If you don't think this storyline will be a problem for you, t See this review and others like it at Badass Book Reviews!

I personally enjoyed Maplecroft but the first thing you need to decide before picking up this book is if you can tolerate a story where Lizzy Borden killing her parents is given a paranormal reasoning. Since this is a fictional take on a historical event, the "explanation" given for the murder in this book might bother some readers and I think it is best for them to stay away. If you don't think this storyline will be a problem for you, then I highly recommend this book -- especially for readers looking for a Lovecraftian creepfest!

The story of Maplecroft is told in several different perspectives but the most notable characters are Lizzie and Emma Borden, the town doctor Owen Seabury, Lizzie's girlfriend Nance, and Emma's professional colleague Dr. Phillip Zollicoffer. Each character, and some other side characters, has several turns at filling in the storyline from their point of view. It could be a little confusing at times, but I feel like it worked to present a well-rounded story overall. It begins with a strange sickness overtaking the Bordens and of course with the murder and Lizzie's trial. What we learn is that there is something rotten in Fall River, something from the sea, and it is causing the citizens to "become" something else, something not human. The story picks up a few years after the trial, detailing the slow invasion of Fall River and Lizzie Borden's fight against it.

Though Maplecroft started out a little slow for me, it picked up around the 25% mark. It soon became almost impossible to put down, even though it continuously left me unsettled and freaked out. There isn't really anything overtly scary here, but Cherie Priest has managed to evoke a gothic sense of wrongness throughout this story. The descriptions are good and serve to paint a disturbing picture of a town losing its security. Anyone can start to "become" and no one knows why. Is it tetanus? Are people simply losing their mind? Only Lizzie and her closest confidants know there is more going on beneath the surface. There were several scenes that I can recall in detail even now that serve to send a chill down my spine. The young boy treading air as if it were water, the delicate gills appearing on a submerged girl's throat, the slow creeping and banging of a monster trying to find its way in, even a good and learned man slowing realizing that he is descending into madness... all were effective at throwing the reader off-balance.

Cherie Priest just has a certain way with words and Maplecroft is no exception. It is very obvious that she put a lot of time into researching the story of Lizzie Borden and the time period the story is set in, but it never feels like you are reading a history book - even when the paranormal elements are absent. The different perspectives are captivating and serve to fill in large amounts of information that we would have missed from Lizzie's perspective alone. The historical and paranormal interweave beautifully and the dread just seeps through the pages. This is a love song to Lovecraft and a very fine example of effective horror writing. Priest doesn't tell; she shows and the reader feels the phantom fingers of fear running down their spine. The only reason I didn't give this one five stars is because I'm not sure how it will develop into a series. The story felt pretty contained here, but I am eager for more. Also, I ended up really not liking Emma and I didn't understand her reasoning at several points in the story. And lastly, there is still so much more to learn about the origin of the evil and the mysterious Inspector Wolf. None of these issues took away from the story, but they did leave me with serious questions at the end. All in all, Maplecroft was a delightfully creepy horror read and I highly recommend it to those looking for a little shiver of fear at night.

Thank you to Roc Trade and Netgalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, supernatural, 2015-reading-challenge

Maplecroft should not be good. I went into it thinking the premise silly (it is.) I thought the cover promised something light (it's not.) What it is, though, is properly terrifying. After reading late at night, I had to get up and turn on the lights. I heard licking sounds, and sure it might be the cat, but it might also be something terrifying from the sea. (Spoiler alert: it was the cat.)

Recommended for classic horror fans. ...more

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Sep 17, 2014 Bonnie rated it really liked it

Shelves: horror, neo-victorian-regency, gothic, 2014-books

Priest reimagines Lizzie Borden as an axe-wielding fighter of Lovecraftian horrors. The real story of Lizzie Borden practically begs for this interpretation. Lizzie Borden really lived in a place called Fall River (spooky name!). Lizzie and her sister really moved into an estate named Maplecroft (sounds like a gothic horror setting!). Lizzie really did famously take an axe to her parents. If Lizzie Borden actually killed her parents as a result of Lovecraftian horrors, I wouldn't even be surpris ...more

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Feb 28, 2015 Stormi (StormReads) rated it liked it

Shelves: historical, audiobook-reviews, gothic, lgbtq, supernatural

I really thought this one was going to be more interesting that it really was, so I am kind of sad. I did like it but it was really slow, even listening to it was slow. It seemed to take me forever when I know it really didn't, but it didn't hold my attention very well so I frequently stopped it.

It's told in a lot of POV's and the audio had two narrators, one for the female pov's and one for the male pov's. I wasn't expecting it to be told through what I could tell from listening as maybe journa I really thought this one was going to be more interesting that it really was, so I am kind of sad. I did like it but it was really slow, even listening to it was slow. It seemed to take me forever when I know it really didn't, but it didn't hold my attention very well so I frequently stopped it.

It's told in a lot of POV's and the audio had two narrators, one for the female pov's and one for the male pov's. I wasn't expecting it to be told through what I could tell from listening as maybe journals or notes or something. This is not really my favorite type of writing, but it was okay.

The author has taken a famous crime and turned it supernatural. Lizzie Borden killed her father and stepmother but it was because they were not themselves. There is something that is turning people into some sort of creature, or demon (I am not really sure what it is). Something nasty that must be killed. Lizzie took her ax and killed them to protect her and her sister. Lizzie had to protect her sister and then her girlfriend Nancy who is to inquisitive for her own good, gets afflicted, so Lizzie is trying to help her.

Their is a doctor Owen Seabury who testified on Lizzie's behalf and helped her not be convicted of murder. Owen had seen her stepmother, and though he didn't know exactly what it was she was turning into he knew she was not the same. He has also seen others who have been infected.

There are other accounts from other doctors about things that are going on and they are trying to figure out exactly what is going on.

Overall, it was interesting, but not gripping. I do wish that it would have pointed out that Lizzie had a girl friend in the blurb because there are people like me who doesn't really care to read about such things. It's my right not to want too. I don't mind a homosexual character but I don't want to have to listen to a romantic part between them. If I did I would read those types of books. Thank goodness I could just skip through it easily while listening.

That is really my only real grip about the novel and didn't really derail me from not liking it, I did like it, but just not wowed by it. If you think it sounds interesting then give it a try, you might like it more than I did. ...more

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Oct 10, 2014 Trisha rated it liked it

"Someday, someone is bound to find out some secret or another. Yours, or maybe mine."

hmmmm...this one was an odd one.
I thought the element of Lizzie Borden and what I knew of the murders would really be interesting told with a new slant and different information (fictionalized).

But that isn't what this is. This is....after the murders, well after. And while it may help to try to understand the murders, it is not about that at all.
It is very supernatural - completely and thoroughly Fantasy/Scienc ...more

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Aug 22, 2014 Morgan rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction, horror, paranormal, young-adult, kindle-read, alternate-history, american-history

Between the fact that I cannot say enough good things about I Am Princess X and the fact that this is about Lizzie Borden, I expected to LOVE this book.

As it turns out, I really, really did not.

I slogged through it from start to finish and I can't even tell you why I didn't just stop reading. Maybe I was just convinced that it really had to get better.

I was wrong.

I am also vastly in the minority, so more power to you if you loved it. That cover is gorgeous though. Five stars for that alone. ...more

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