The Line of Departure

A Postapocalyptic Novel

By: G. Michael Hopf

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

A gripping new novel from one of the best-known names in survivalist fiction.

Former Marine-turned-author, G. Michael Hopf grabs listeners from minute one with his breathtaking blend of action, adventure, and political intrigue. The End - the first book in Hopf ’s New World series - has sold more than 50,000 copies, and word of mouth is quickly building on the series as a whole. In the fourth book, The Line of Departure, the United States is on the brink of total anarchy in the wake of a super-EMP attack. Gordon Van Zandt and his family have managed to beat the odds so far, but can they survive once war erupts?

©2015 G. Michael Hopf (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Man...he keeps hammering!

The story continues... I have really enjoyed the series! I keep hoping it won't go the way it does
but that's how you Keep it real and fresh! on to the next one!!!

G Micheal Hoph keeps us interested

The conflicts changed. Gordon Van Zant does not catch a break. His problems only grow in magnitude. It's a great series! It's Morality Tales on a grand scale.

More please!

If you could sum up The Line of Departure in three words, what would they be?

Heavy, but great!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sebastian

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Keith Szarabajka?

Dave Wright, William Dufris, John David Farrell, or Kevin Peirce

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Like the continuity of the story, plot, characters. Please continue!

Any additional comments?

The Narrator---needs to change. Sounds like a heavy smoker from Boston...this accent does not work with these books. A Boston or New England accent can only work if the characters are from that area. He does a good job telling the story, but the accent plus the raspy "Ive smoked 3 packs before I came in today" voice just does not work! Has got to go with the next sequel. Consider redoing the whole series with another narrator as well. Great follow up on the series, just please change the narrator. He is good, but only if all the characters were from New England.

Awesome book! Now hurry up with the next one!

I have to say it has been a pleasure to follow this series of books. While The End (the first book in the series) I still consider the best so far The Line of Departure is a very close second. The book has some great plot twists while remaining believable and not over the top like allot of movies and TV shows.

This book finds Gordon and Samantha finally settled down at their cabin in the mountains. While in The Long Road they faced almost constant danger throughout their travels they are by no means safe. Now they face many challenges and even more volatile dangers here. In a world with little to almost none of the great medical advances of the last two hundred years are readily available to the masses of the population. Now things that would have been of almost no concern before present themselves as possible mass extinction events.
The other aspect of the book that I enjoyed was watching President Connor slowly evolve from a political leader who seemed like a man of the people into a ruthless tyrant and how was able to justify some pretty horrible barbarism to himself as “for the greater good”. Some other plot twists with other leading figures in the book are also masterfully done. Seeing how the author tied some of these loose plot lines together is really intriguing and incredibly addicting.

The one thing I did notice in this book was that the main character Gordon is not quite as ruthless as he was in previous books. Which I found kind of interesting. I would have figured that after the death of his son Hunter, Gordon would be far more likely to deal out death to save others the pain an anguish that he was forced to endure. There are several scenes where Gordon seems to almost want to avoid using violence in this book where as in the first book he seems to be able kill without giving it even a second thought. I am not sure if this is a character growing in a different direction or what.

Lastly I will cover the one small aspect of the book that I personally did not like. In fact I felt that it was completely out of context and character for the series. One of the characters begins to have premonitions of the future in her dreams. This is a very small part of the book and it does not really play into any of the major parts of the story. So I really do not understand why the author choose to include this in the book. I found myself wondering is this really part of the story and why? But that is a small portion of the book and it was over fast. I am just hoping that this series does not somehow de-evolve into an apocalyptic scenario combined with the X Files.

If you read the first two books you are almost sure to enjoy this book like I did. If you have not read the first two you will want to read them first or you will not understand allot of the back story. This book is really good and helped me pass the time on a number of chores that probably would have seemed much more unpleasant had I not had this great book to help the time pass by quicker.

Enjoyable listen

What does Keith Szarabajka bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Distinctive voice, enjoyable and pleasing to listen too

Any additional comments?

Enjoyable continuation of the series. I found the last book to be a little disappointing however decided to continue and I was pleased I did. This has more bite, more interest and intrigue. I am back on board and do recommend

Great story

Awesome story. Lovely narrator. Makes you want to stay up to listen...and waiting for the next story to come out.

Fantastic!!! Another great addition to the series.

Any additional comments?

The book was so good I listened to it in one day. I just want to know when the next book is the series is going to be published.

It Flows perfect!

This flows perfect! The story is suspenseful but yet compelling all at the same time.

Story OK

Narrator is not good. Can't tell the difference between characters . His gravel voice sounds bad as a female &I barely managed to make it to the end.

love it

I really love this series. You really get attached to all the characters. really good job