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    Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches
    Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches
    Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches
    Audiobook12 hours

    Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches

    Written by Cherie Priest

    Narrated by Johanna Parker and Roger Wayne

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The people of Fall River, Massachusetts, fear me. Perhaps rightfully so. I remain a suspect in the brutal deaths of my father and his second wife despite the verdict of innocence at my trial. With our inheritance, my sister, Emma, and I have taken up residence in Maplecroft, a mansion near the sea and far from gossip and scrutiny.


    But it is not far enough from the affliction that possessed my parents. Their characters, their very souls, were consumed from within by something that left malevolent entities in their place. It originates from the ocean's depths, plaguing the populace with tides of nightmares and madness. This evil cannot hide from me. No matter what guise it assumes, I will be waiting for it. With an axe.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 2, 2014
    ISBN9781494572464
    Maplecroft: The Borden Dispatches
    Author

    Cherie Priest

    Cherie Priest is a full-time novelist, perhaps most famous for the Clockwork Century series, starting with the highly-acclaimed and award-winning Boneshaker. She is also a member of the Wild Cards Consortium, George R. R. Martin’s superhero universe. She currently lives in Tennessee with her husband, and you can find out more at www.CheriePriest.com.

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    Reviews for Maplecroft

    3.5/5

    210 ratings31 reviews

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    • 4/5
      String of good luck with books lately. This was an amazing book for the value of its language alone. Beautifully-written epistolary work with all kinds of fun dark corners. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending was slightly faded in that enjoyment--felt a bit dismissive, but it did not dim my appreciation for the rest of the book.
    • 3/5
      I did not actually like this book, despite my reading. I didn't realize the format of the story before I started and it is not one I care format I care for; epistolaries don't appeal to me. But for what it is, I think it is well don't.
    • 3/5
      I like Cherie Priest's ideas a lot, and even the writing when it works for me -- Bloodshot and Hellbent being books I totally adore. I like her characters, the way she picks people who other writers might overlook: the working mother of Boneshaker, the neurotic vampire and her found family of Hellbent, and here, Lizzie Borden -- yes, that one. She takes the two Bordens and makes them heroines, tries to change your perspective on the murder of the Borden parents, makes them women of learning and resolve, biting back against patriarchal society. And Lizzie's relationship with Nance O'Neil is explicitly a sexual one here, which... I'm not sure if I think it's a bit exploitative, using these real people in the service of this story. And yet I don't flinch if you go back further and use Chaucer or Gower or shakespeare, speculate about their relationships, so I guess it's just because they're that much closer to living memory. Either way, I do enjoy the way Priest chooses characters to weave her stories around.

      The format is pretty cool, too: an epistolary novel, basically, very much in the same sort of vein as Dracula -- only here, it's a woman acquitted of murder versus stuff from the Cthulu mythos. I'm not sure how completely Priest draws on that or whether it's just nods in that direction, but she does a pretty good job of making the menace felt. One thing I didn't quite get was the tetanus stuff and how/why that worked, which weakened things for me a bit -- I felt like just a bit more explanation on that point would've helped, much as it might have gone against the grain of the mystery and the superstition that was wrapped around the scientific aspects.

      It is a bit slow at some points -- the epistolary format doesn't help with that, since it gives us very explicit glimpses into how characters are feeling after the events they're recording, which can slow down the action as they introspect. But overall I thought it was interesting, and I'd definitely read more in the series, where I'm much less bothered about the Eden Moore books or even the Clockwork Century books, which I haven't read all of.
    • 5/5
      how do I explain .... written in the style of journals from multiple parties, I was drawn into this novel. The name, Lizzie Borden, caught me as a "wow" factor and Priest took me on a ride that I was not expecting.
    • 3/5
      It is possible this book is most fun for people who are more knowledgeable about Lizzie Borden than I am-- I know only the bare bones of the history. Without more knowledge to support me, the characters felt thin. This may be partially due to the conceit that all the text in the novel is meant to be letters and diary entries written by the characters. The period-appropriate emotional reserve expressed in the writing meant the characters' interior lives were more told than shown.

      Which is really a pity, because science! horror! lesbians! is totally my jam.

      Also, and this really bugged me, there are several scenes of Lizbeth Borden outside, in her nightdress, killing things with an axe, and then having trouble breathing because of her corset. To which I say two things: 1) Why is she sleeping in her corset? and 2) Given how unconventional she is in so many other ways, and how isolated the sisters are, why does she wear a corset when she hunts at all??
    • 5/5
      Lizzie Borden battling Lovecraftian horrors. Do you need a better pitch than that?
    • 5/5
      This was a truly creepy book. I really liked it. Lizzie Borden is a character I would read about again in a heartbeat. I love the twist on the original history. I loved the nasty creatures and Lizzie's bad ass ax. One of the creepier books I have read during the last year. It had a little of everything. Great characters, a love story, and things that go bump in the night.

      Priest is a great writer. Her biggest talent is her ability to adapt and change styles to fit the story she is telling. She can put some mean sentences together and I found myself rereading paragraphs out loud because I loved the way the words sounded together. I might go back and listen to the audio book someday. One of my favorites this year and if you are in the mood for some creepiness this book is for you.
    • 4/5
      Lizzie Borden meets H.P. Lovecraft.
    • 4/5
      The first third of the book deserves a 5-star rating, but the last third is only mediocre, so I suppose 4 stars overall. I wished that the end of the book would be as good as the beginning, but it felt lackluster to me. All that suspense built and then wasted when it wrapped up far too easily.
    • 4/5
      Lizzie Borden and Lovecraftian horror -- what's not to love? This book is the most obviously non-historically accurate of all the Lizzie Borden fiction out there, and yet it's one of the most respectful takes on these real life people. Also, the Lizzie/Nance romance is lovely and crushing.
    • 2/5
      Very boring, couldn't really get into the book.
    • 4/5
      A great concept for a relatively new genre, steampunk. It is hard to really tag this book as any one genre: we start with the Borden sisters living in relative isolation in Falls River, Massachusetts. Emma, the older, writes scientific articles for the journals of the time and gains some measure of professional recognition thereby. One of the most fascinating things she has seen and sent is a living blob she discovers near the seashore.The famous Lizzie Borden features the most prominently, as she is driven to extraordinary defense measures due to nasty, smelly things that have "too many joints in their limbs" to be completely human but in many other respects they possess human features. Also featured is Owen Seabury, M.D., the doctor who testified in defense of Lizzie Borden at her trial. He brings medical knowledge and the connection of disease with innoculations to the case.Basically what we have is a mystery with historical characters and the increased, unexplainable murders within the small community. All of the murders are to family members, each has a member who is gradually becoming less and less human and falling into listening to the sea, yet no one can quite figure out the alignments to put the pieces together. The reader is left to wonder: was it the blob Emma sent her professor friend? What are the sea glass baubles? How did those creatures come to become their hideous, not-quite-human shapes? Even a police detective, at one of the earliest times for this profession, is not able to solve everything. It is this final point that brings the strength of this book at its conclusion: Priest does not try to wrap up all the loose ends in a neat little Victorian bow; instead, she lets the messiness, the incompetency of police higher-ups, and several unexplained questions remain.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. It was an interesting mashup of the urban legends surrounding Lizzie Borden and the stories of HP Lovecraft. The writing is good, and the characterizations of Lizzie and her sister, Emma, are fairly well done. Those who enjoy Lovecraftian stories and are able to tolerate a bit of play with the mythos will probably enjoy this book.
    • 4/5
      What if Lizzie Borden had a very good reason for taking that ax to her father and step-mother's heads?This book was way better then I expected it to be, I wasn't expecting it not to be good, it was just so much more of an engaging page turner then I had expected it to be. I was expecting more of a horror story considering the mix of a horrible murder and Lovecraftian themes but it ended up being more of an action adventure story with hints of horror never quite realized. In the end, I was okay with that, I think that added to the page-turning pace of the book and kept things from getting too bogged down.I even found myself enjoying the conceit of the journal entry style of writing used here, which is something often find a bit t0o twee and annoying. Not quite what I was expecting and not quite what I wanted but still a real fun read and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
    • 4/5
      Up front: I'm adding a star for personal reasons. I was born in Fall River, and as an older child, moved to Providence, so a Lovecraftian Lizzie Borden tale feels like it was created just for me!

      'Maplecroft' begins after Lizzie has been legally exonerated for the axe murders of her parents, although suspicion in town still rides high against her. She lived a somewhat isolated life, caring for her frail and sickly sister, Emma. Their main "social" contact is with Emma's doctor. Aside from her quotidian tasks, Lizzie spends her time dispatching semi-aquatic inhuman monsters that keep nosing around the house - and spending time in her basement laboratory investigating what these malefic mysteries might be.
      Meanwhile, her sister Emma busies herself with correspondence and investigations under her secret alter-ego identity: the renowned but reclusive marine biologist E.A. Jackson.

      Now, Priest plays loose in this book not only with reality and history, but with geography. An awful lot is switched around to fit her tale, to the point where using the historical characters seems almost besides-the-point. I was OK with doing away with the servants who lived in the Borden mansion in order to accentuate the sisters' isolation, but I did wish that the time period and sense of place had been more carefully crafted.

      At the time that this novel is set, Fall River was a bustling mill town. It was in the middle of a major boom - within Lizzie's lifetime, the population had increased five-fold. It was the textile center of the USA, known as 'Spindle City.' The character of the community had quickly changed as well, with a major influx of French-speaking immigrants from Canada. Not one iota of any of that is referenced in the book. Instead, the town feels sleepy and quiet, with a relentlessly British feel (with the exception of Lizzie's Irish 'friend' who comes to visit from Boston.)

      In addition, a major theme of the book centers around the ocean. There are multiple descriptions of crashing waves, walking along the shore picking up 'sea glass' and other sea life, etc. Too bad Fall River is not actually on the ocean. It has waterfront, yes, but if you run down to the water from the Borden mansion at 306 French St, you're on the Taunton River, not even Mount Hope Bay. It's near Battleship Cove, a location chosen for its calm waters and lack of crashing waves.

      These things made me go "hmmph."
      Regardless, I still very much enjoyed the tale, and will be promptly moving on to the just-released sequel.
    • 4/5
      This book definitely wins on uniqueness points! Who would have ever thunk axe-wielding Lizzie Borden and Lovecraft-inspired horror stuff?!?! Well, Cherie Priest did, folks. And she carries it off with wonderful skill. I was kept spellbound by this story. I never knew where it was going to go nor what new horror would be introduced. The suspense was top notch, and the final showdown breath stealing. I actually really enjoyed how the author reinvented historical aspects to fit into this horror mold as well. From the big like the Borden axe murders themselves to the small details like the incorporation of gas light as an atmospheric tool, I was kept spellbound by the horror elements. Then there were the psychological horror elements. Cherie has found a way to get into her reader's heads and just play with our subconscious with this book. The reader doesn't just read the horror; they experience and breathe it. And then to round out the horror is the un-clearness of who really was behind all the horror. It's never really resolved who caused the mayhem to start. Yes, there are clues and supposition but no clear answers nor resolution. I loved that!Each of the characters were very unique unto themselves. Three-dimensional and full of vices and virtues, everyone contributed to the story and won this reader over in their own way. Lizzie, especially, was a favorite of mine. Maybe it was the ninja-style axe wielding (campy though that image may sound) or the obsessive nature of hers towards Nance and her research, but whatever it was, I perked up whenever her POV rolled around. I also really enjoyed how the horror elements touched each of our characters and left no one unchanged, in both personality and relationships. Going through horrors like that would change a person; Cherie Priest illustrates that realistically for all her characters. My one ding against this book that I wish had been handled a bit differently was the constant shift in POV. Every chapter is a shift in first person POV, and in my humble opinion, there are far too many of them. There are upwards of 7-8 different POVs, even if some were only one chapter long and really in the format of a report or something of that nature. More than once, when I had to leave the book for any length of time, I would come back and be momentarily confused about whose POV I was in. Very distracting...Overall, this was a wonderful beginning to my month of horror in celebration of my favorite holiday, Halloween. It's unique horror elements and story, fantastic characterization, and incredible atmosphere writing kept me spellbound. While some issues with POV switching were present, I'd still recommend this book very highly to anyone looking for a unique horror book to enjoy.
    • 4/5
      Maplecroft is a fantastical horror novel set in the 1890s. I am not familiar with Lovecraft’s work, but I have heard Maplecroft be called Lovecraftian. Told in an epistolary style, Maplecroft tells the tale of a supernatural danger coming out from the ocean and the few people who stand against it.Lizzie Borden’s father and stepfather were slowly… changed… until they lost their minds and became ghastly and murderous creatures. Now, a few years later, Lizzie and her invalid sister Emma live by themselves across town. Lizzie is desperately attempting to find out what force is at work on the town and to protect herself and her sister from the strange monsters that have been coming after them.Yet, it looks like Lizzie’s father and stepmother won’t be the only people changed. Others are coming down “sick” as well, and Lizzie and those with her might be the only ones that stand against whatever dangerous entity dwells out at sea.The story is told mostly through letters and diary entries of the various players involved. Lizzie, her sister Emma, the town doctor, Lizzie’s lover Nancy, and a scientist Emma writes to are the main POVs of the book. Each has a distinct perspective and personality, which were accentuated by Priest’s gorgeous gothic writing style.The writing was definitely a high point of Maplecroft. Priest emulates the prose of the time period without becoming overwhelmingly Victorian. The result is elegant and haunting.Why only three and a half stars? Horror simply isn’t my genre. I picked up the book because I liked some of Priest’s other writings without much knowledge of the genre or plot. I would recommend it to people who like horror novels, but it didn’t have enough of the fantastic for my tastes.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
    • 3/5
      Lizzie Borden meets H.P. Lovecraft in a whole new explanation for the Borden murders—after killing her father and stepmother during their transformation into eldritch horrors, Lizzie and her invalid sister try to fend off further invaders from the sea, with somewhat limited success. Lizzie’s lover Nance keeps asking difficult questions. Her sister, who publishes scientific articles under a male name, has sent off an unusual sample to a colleague, with disastrous results. A local doctor and a mysterious investigator round out the crew. I enjoyed the premise, but ended up feeling that the execution (no pun intended) dragged by the end—a risk with epistolary novels.
    • 5/5
      Someday I will realize that I love everything Cherie Priest does and stop putting off reading her books for months or years. This is a wonderful mash-up of Lizzie Borden and The Dunwich Horror, an epistolary novel featuring numerous points of view, including Lizzie herself, Lizzie's infirm sister Emma (who was by far my favorite character by the end), a local doctor caught up in the strange sickness infecting Fall River, and a professor at Miskatonic U, who really should not have taken that specimen out of its jar. It's terrifically creepy and incredibly engaging, and I loved every bit of it.
    • 4/5
      I have read a number of Cherie Priest’s books and I always think they are interesting...but they never really draw me in and make me want to read more. I was curious to check out this new series by her and see if I found it more engaging than her Clockwork Century series. This ended up being an odd book. I enjoyed the writing style and thought the story was intriguing...but by the end of it all I was ready to be done with the book and didn't really want to read more about this world or the characters.Lizzie (Lizbeth) Borden and her sister Emma live on the outskirts of Fall River and are outcasts of the community. You see something happened to Lizzie’s parents, something evil, and Lizzie took care of them; she’s been proven innocent but everyone knows that Lizzie did something awful. Now Lizzie and her sister struggle to fight against this evil anyway they can. However, the evil is slow and creeping and taking over more of the town everyday.The book takes place in the 1890’s, it’s more of a horror than anything and very much derived from Lovecraft's whole Cthulhu mythos. There is a lot about madness, murder, and people going insane because of a dark and invasive power. There are a number of very graphic and violent scenes and this lends the book a very "horror" feel...some of the scenes are downright chilling. There is also a supernatural element. The pace of the story is very deliberate and at times it lags a bit.The book is done as journal entries by a number of different characters. This is a good format for slowly unrolling the mystery of the madness that is affecting this small town. However, it is a format that makes it hard to engage with the characters. Priest does do a very good job of altering sound of the narration of different characters as they slowly descend into madness. I will say this is not a book for those with weak stomachs. The scenes are disgusting, graphic, and downright disturbing at times.The way everything ties up is very ambiguous and kind of left me cold. I understand it's supposed to be all mysterious, but I would have liked a little bit more wrap-up. This appears to be the first book in a series, so maybe we’ll get more wrap up in future books.Overall this was an odd book, that is well written but a bit slow moving. It is mostly a horror with some mystery and not a read for the faint of heart. While I found the concept and premise intriguing, the story did get a bit boring at points and I struggled to stay engaged in it at times. If you are a fan of Priest’s Clockwork Century series (and general writing style) and enjoy horror I would recommend checking this book out.
    • 4/5
      Get a Victorian story. Add some monsters (with tentacles). Stir and serve. This seems to be a very popular recipe these days - Lovecraft and the Victorians seem to be just going very well together. I rarely read the genre - as much as I can read Lovecraft in small dozes, tales about monsters bore me often. And still, sometimes I would read a book or two - you never know when something good will show up in a genre that is not exactly a favorite. This time the Victorian story is a real one - Lizzie Borden's parents murder. The story starts after the sisters had moved to the new house, renamed it Maplecroft and Lizzie had even built herself a laboratory. Because in this Fall River, Mass. something awful had come from the ocean (and is still coming) and Lizbeth (as she prefers to be called) is protecting the town. Despite the fact that she had been acquitted for the murders, in the novel it is clear that she had murdered them, she even admits it more than once. But the reasons are not what the court had thought - the Bordens had been afflicted by these same sea monsters and Lizzie had to kill them. And after the trial, she and her sister Emma live in their new house - and the younger sister makes everything she can to protect the very sick Emma. And while she is dealing with the monsters with her ax, the people of Fall River start getting sick in weird ways - all related to water, all ending in death and/or madness. At the same time a string of murders start happening outside of the town and it is soon clear that the reason is the same - or at least it is clear for the ones that are in the house anyway. Add to all this the local doctor (whose involvement changes and grows through the novel and who is not the most lucky guy), Nance (Lizbeth's lover who comes to stay with her and gets afflicted causing a lot of stress in the household - by simply being there, by being sick, by being alive) and the mysterious inspector Simon Wolf (who we meet a few times but it is the very last chapter that will give us a clue of what he is - even if no real answers are there either - but it is a good setup for a sequel) and the main cast is assembled. Priest is keeping her story very close to the historical record - where possible - which makes the story a bit anticlimactic in places - you know that the sisters will survive and that removes a part of the excitement. At the same time for most of the novel, the monsters are just at the corner of your eye (when not getting hacked with an ax that is) and Priest even manages to find a scientific reason for why iron works against these creatures (how correct is her science is a bit beyond me but it sounds convincing enough). But it being a book with sea monsters, it had to finish with a battle and the pages where that happens drag. Or maybe so it seems to be because this is exactly the part I don't like in that style. The whole novel is told from the viewpoint of all of our characters (plus a few others) - via pages of diaries, letters, reports, newspaper articles. In a sense it is an epistolary novel, written by more than one correspondent which are not writing to each other. We rarely see the same actions described from two different people but when it happens, it actually adds more to the story and clarifies it. At the end I was surprised that I liked the novel more than I expected. I am not going to go and read more stories in the genre but I will pick up any sequel that Priest publishes. Which is a lot more than I expected when I started reading it.
    • 4/5
      Maplecroft is at its best when the monsters are just out of sight, and loses some of its effectiveness when the characters start to discover science behind their origins and weaknesses. The diary format, deliberate withholding of information, and constant miscommunication remind me a lot of the way that Dracula is structured, and followed several similar beats. I enjoyed Maplecroft, but felt that the resolution didn’t live up to the buildup. It’s obviously set up to be the first installment in a series. I’m curious where it might go from here, but I would have liked it to stand alone a little better.I was wary when I learned one of the main characters is employed at Miskatonic University, thinking that Priest might be pulling too much directly from the Lovecraft universe. However, I think that she did a good job of working within the strangeness of that universe, rather than lifting from Lovecraft directly. This is a good, pulpy horror read and I would recommend this to anyone who is into that sort of thing. However, I don’t think it will convert anyone who isn’t already sold on the premise.I appreciate reading a gothic horror where the two main players are women, especially since there’s a lesbian relationship involved. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to Lovecraft and his white, male, flat narrators. (I understand that Lovecraft was doing more with atmosphere than he was with characterization. It's just nice to see some of the same atmospheric work happen with a variety of voices.)The blurb for the sequel indicates that Lizzie will be the protagonist of the next, which makes sense, as she is the character ripped straight from the (1890s) headlines. Unfortunately, I found her to be the least interesting of all the narrators. I look forward to reading more about Inspector Wolf and his mysterious organization in the next installment.
    • 4/5
      There was a lot of buzz around this book. The concept is quite bold: Lizzie Borden gone Lovecraft. I found it slow to start. The build up is gradual and creepy. This is real, old-fashioned horror. It doesn't dwell too much on the gore, but the atmosphere is what gets you. You know things in Fall River are going to hell. Perhaps literally.The story is told in letter form, mostly between Lizzie, her sister Emma, their Doctor, and then a scattering of other characters. The relationship of Lizzie and her lover is very well done, and raises the stakes--as though Lizzie's reputation isn't tenuous enough, after the local police failed to convict her for the murders of her father and stepmother. This is where the famed tale of Lizzie Borden and her axe come into play. Lizzie really did kill them... because they were becoming hideous monsters. And now, the rest of town is slowly succumbing to the same fate.This is the first in a series, though it resolves so neatly in one book, I wonder where things can go from here.
    • 4/5
      I'd like to give a stronger rating to this gothic/Lovecraftian tale of strange things from the sea afflicting Fall River, Massachusetts and the reinvention of Lizzie Borden as a fighter of monsters, but a number of things hold me back. For one, there is an unconventional romantic sub-plot that just doesn't feel all that convincing to me; as if Priest wanted to avoid something more conventional arising from her plot. Two, there are a sufficient number of anachronistic words and terms that these become a little annoying after awhile. Three, Priest seems to leave her story hanging a bit too much at the end; as if she had some sense that she'd want to do a follow-up, but didn't quite want to bet on it. We'll see; though I did enjoy this work enough to want to go another round if this turns into a series.
    • 5/5
      Lizzie Borden -Lizbeth- yes, ax wielding Lizzie Borden- and her invalid older sister Emma live quietly a Maplecroft, a large house in coastal Fall River, MA. At least that’s how it seems to outsiders. The house is far away enough from neighbors, to conceal a lot. Like a basement laboratory, a large gas fired ‘cooker’ beneath the basement floor, and the strange things that come creeping around the house at night, pounding on the walls, seeking entrance. Because there was a lot more to the story of her killing her father and stepmother with an ax. Her father and stepmother were long gone when she took an ax to the bodies that still shambled around. In the same vein as ‘Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter’, Priest has taken a historical personage and inserted a horror tale into their biography. In this case, it’s not run of the mill zombies or vampires. Priest has created her own monsters, albeit ones that seem like they would feel right at home in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. Somehow, people in the town are being infected by… something. Something that changes them slowly to have razor sharp teeth and glassy, dull eyes. To lose their wits and become violent. What is infecting them? Is it supernatural? Lizbeth and Emma have been trying for two years to figure it out when they run out of time. Suddenly it’s not just an isolated person or two. They are forced to take the town doctor into their confidence, and soon there is an out of town inspector poking around. To complicate things further, Lizbeth’s actress girlfriend is staying with them, a woman who is intensely nosy. This was a really fun book to read- yes, I think reading creepy things at night is fun. The fact that the monsters are never totally explained adds to the creepy factor. People changing into beings that defy the laws of physics adds to it, too. There is a constant, palpable menace. I have to admit that I was dissatisfied with the fact that things weren’t well explained until I found out this is the start of a series. It makes sense to leave things to explain in later volumes. The story is told from different points of view: Lizbeth’s, Emmas, the doctor, a professor who Emma-posing as a male marine biologist- sent a sample of unknown sea life, and others. This creates a fuller picture of the action, and of the characters. A fast, absorbing read.
    • 2/5
      Sigh this book was soooo bad. I really can't tell you exactly what it was about this book I disliked because there were several things that just made this not work for me. It took me a little over two weeks of actual read time to finish this. I'd get maybe through a chapter and be so dang tired I'd have to put it down; no matter when I read it, or how much sleep I'd gotten the night before. I found it to be a real snooze fest.I have no clue what to call this book it's almost like a historical body snatchers, meets zombies, meets creature from the blue lagoon book. Other than that I just don't know how to describe it. The whole book takes place shortly before, during, and a little after Lizzie Borden killed her parents. Truthfully it only glosses over the actual Borden Murders never really going into depth on them. You also get introduced to several narrators so many I don't even remember them all. That too was really annoying as soon as I was getting into something that was going on I'd turn the page and someone else would be narrating something different.What happens in this book is that there is something causing the towns people to change. First they start to act different, and then there body starts to change in some really weird ways that include water. I won't explain it JIC someone actually wants to read it. So it starts with Lizzie's parents and moves out from there infecting different characters through out the book. There are also strange non-human people like creatures who attack the main characters causing some action until they are defeated which was pretty quick. Lizzie with the help of a town Doctor tries to find out what is causing the mystery changes in the towns folks. Lizzie being fanciful thinks its the fair folks and looks to researching old tales, and the good Doctor thinks is some kind of disease and starts looking for a cure. In the end there was no satisfactory answer give as to what was actually happening. ETA: I left this out but Lizzie has this awful inconsiderate sister who is really sick with consumption and is pretty much as snotty uptight grump through the whole book. She's jealous and so annoying I wishes she would just die through most of it. I kind of like her in the beginning but she turns really hateful about half way through and I just couldn't help but hate her. So if you hate bitchy whinny sisters you might want to pass on this one!Truthfully the ending on this leaves much to be desired and I just have no clue how she's going to come back to these characters 30 years later and continue the series. I'm undecided on if I actually want to read the sequel to this if it does gets published. I really want to say this one was so bad I won't go near it but I kind of do want to know if a good answer to what was happening is ever given.So be warned and read this at your own risk as it may cause extreme bouts of sleepiness.
    • 3/5
      I like the idea of re-writing the story of a woman famous for standing trial for murdering her father and stepmother. In Maplecroft, Lizzie has good reason to kill them: they were possessed (for want of a better term; they were changing into something else and stopped acting normally). She has seen more signs of this type of 'possession', and together with her invalid sister is looking for a way to stop it. She is shunned by the town, and in case, who would believe her? So they are on their own, until more and more 'possessions' lead to violent crimes and a doctor and investigator become involved.I very much enjoyed myself in the first half to three quarters of the book. Lizzie is quite a character. She is highly determined and not in the least sqeamish. The sister is posing as a man, and writing scientific articles under this guise. So she is no damsel either. They are both doing their best to fight the weird emanations. However, the whole book is rather dark. The women are quite isolated and the further the book progresses, the more tension forms between the sisters. The struggle is not progressing particularly well, and combined with the relationship between the sisters deteriorating, it is not a particularly cheerful book. It doesn't quite reach the level of being depressing, but it is not far off. The ending, although not a complete failure is not very cheerful either. And that is just not my thing, I would have preferred a better working relationship between the sisters, and between them and the doctor.
    • 4/5
      What if Lizzie Borden killed her parents with an axe because they had been infected by sea-monsters?? is a question that no one has ever asked, but Cherie Priest answers it anyway. Lizzie and her sister Emma work hard to keep the townspeople safe from sea-monsters while not knowing exactly what they're up against. Emma studies them and does extensive research, and Lizzie kills them with her axe. Soon the problem becomes too large for the two of them so they enlist the help of the town doctor, who is the only person in town who doesn't think Lizzie murdered her parents. The book is a pretty good read, though I didn't care for the epistolary style. If it develops into a series, I will probably continue.
    • 4/5
      Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. This children's rhyme is only one of the indignities Lizzie Borden must bear. The murder of her parents was a sensational story in the town of Fall River. Even though Lizzie was acquitted of the crime, she is still the subject of scorn and suspicion. The town ostracized her and her sister Emma because they believe she is a murderer and they are half right. Lizzie did kill her parents, but in self defense. They were slowly becoming horrific creatures so unlike humans and forgot their human lives. The epidemic is spreading in Fall River, so Lizzie and Emma will do whatever they can to save their neighbors and prevent it from extending out into the world.Cherie Priest takes two things I enjoy, Lizzie Borden and the Cthulhu mythos, and successfully mashes them together. Lizzie Borden is known now as the woman who killed her parents and got away with it. It wasn't too different during the time she was alive. Whether she committed the crime or not, she was ostracized for the remainder of her life along with her sister Emma after the trial. In the novel, she actually did commit the crime. but in self defense since her parents were transforming into fish-like, murderous monsters. Lizzie, while not the most educated person, does everything she can to protect her loved ones and even protect the town that so despises her. If even the weirdest and most obscure bit of superstition could work to keep the creatures away, she puts it into practice. She also built a way to get rid of the creatures' bodies and created an extensive lab with her sister (the more scientific of the two) in their house to further their studies on how to destroy the horrific creatures. Lizzie is deadly serious and only lets her guard down with Nance. I loved how Lizzie's history was incorporated into the story. Some may think it's in poor taste to make an infamous figure known for murder into a heroine, but I think it's interesting to imagine a different side to that unsolved mystery.Each main character had chapters from their own point of view, which gave special insight and made each character stand out in their own way. This was especially important with characters like Philip Zollicoffer and, to a lesser extent Dr. Seabury. Both characters become irrevocably changed during the course of the book. Zollicoffer is sent a corrupted sea life sample that eventually changes him into a homicidal and delusional maniac. His mental state starts normally enough and descends into paranoia and serving whatever spawns the eldritch creatures of the deep. He was the creepiest character by far and Seabury doesn't become like Zollicoffer, but his mind is definitely isn't the same after the ordeal. The novel is comprised of journal entries, newspaper articles, and letters that give a varied reading experience and different points of view. While I enjoyed the novel, parts of it marred the experience. The pacing was a bit odd and lots of pages were eaten up in various characters' introspection and similar ramblings. I simply did not like Emma Borden. I liked that she had a double life of sorts as a doctor that published articles in scholarly journals and corresponded with other doctors like Zollicoffer when she could. I didn't like the way she treated Lizzie, especially about her relationship with Nance, or how she treated Dr. Seabury. Emma was like a bit black blot on the page. She was angry and bitter, just bringing the book and the other characters down. Her animosity towards Lizzie over her relationship is based in reality: they eventually parted ways and never spoke to one another again over it. I just didn't like how her pain seemed so much more important than everyone else's. It's frustrating to be infirm, but her callousness and bad overall attitude went over the top. When Nance became afflicted, Emma was completely unsympathetic despite the pain Lizzie was in. I hope the next book follows the real story and Emma is absent.Overall, Maplecroft is an enjoyable throwback to the Gothic novel with vibrant characters. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series and I hope more will be uncovered about the evil, Dagon-like presence in the ocean.
    • 4/5
      I wasn't overly keen with Priest's zombie filled book Boneshaker but my interest in reading a book with some grounding in history caught my attention - that and a couple of reviews that I have read here on LT. Priest breaks interesting ground with this one. Firstly, this is an epistolary novel comprised entirely of journal entries, letters and newspaper clippings, giving the story a more personalized approach. I like epistolary novels. They can be challenging to write but I think that Priest pulled this off with some level of mastery. I also like the fact the Priest has taken the Lizzie Borden story and given it new good twist. There is a fantastic atmospheric gothic feel to this story - always a bonus for me! - and I did enjoy how the creepiness of the story and the hidden details are revealed, bit by bit. Downside for me was the somewhat redundant nature of some aspects of the story as well as a huge bone of contention I have with both Priest's books that I have now read. Why, of why does Priest insist on having her female leads engage in some form of reckless, mindless behaviour that does nothing but devalue the characters as heroes in my esteem? They don't come across as being more human with these flaws, just really annoying female characters I want to slap some sense into. It is the whole reason that I stopped reading The Clockwork Century books after reading Boneshaker - well that and the zombie. I am really not a fan of zombies. i>*sighs* Overall, I do prefer this first book in The Borden Dispatches series and, unlike Boneshaker and The Clockwork Century series, I am actually looking forward to the release of the second book, when that happens.