The Salt Line

By: Holly Goddard Jones

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the spirit of Station Eleven and California, award-winning novelist Holly Goddard Jones offers a literary spin on the dystopian genre with this gripping story of survival and humanity about a group of adrenaline junkies who jump "the salt line".

How far will they go for their freedom - once they decide what freedom really means?

In an unspecified future, the United States' borders have receded behind a salt line - a ring of scorched earth that protects its citizens from deadly disease-carrying ticks. Those within the zone live safe, if limited, lives in a society controlled by a common fear. Few have any reason to venture out of zone, except for the adrenaline junkies who pay a fortune to tour what's left of nature. Those among the latest expedition include a pop star and his girlfriend, Edie; the tech giant Wes; and Marta, a seemingly simple housewife.

Once out of the zone, the group find themselves at the mercy of deadly ticks - and at the center of a murderous plot. They become captives in Ruby City, a community made up of outer-zone survivors determined to protect their hardscrabble existence. As alliances and friendships shift among the hostages, Edie, Wes, and Marta must decide how far they are willing to go to get to the right side of the salt line.

©2017 Holly Goddard Jones (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Odd, pointless story.

The set up is for an exciting post apocalyptic thriller. What you actually end up with is a mediocre soap opera that ends without ever really going anywhere. Many...even most of the characters die, but it all happens 'off screen' and you don't really feel anything, and neither do the other characters and despite all they supposedly go through, nothing really changes for the characters or the world afterwards. Which is really too bad. The set up and premise are excellent...its a world I would like to read more about...just needs a different author to tell the story.

great summer listen

I really liked this book, a believable world (if you don't think about it too hard), and lots of deep character development. Jones take on a Jurassic Park style tourism-trip-where-everything-goes-wrong felt fresh and futuristic. The ending I think, was, not my favorite... but it seemed like a good wrap-up on a wild adventure across the Salt Line.

Voice actor was pretty good, my one complaint is that all the men sounded very raspy and similar, or sort-of gave off an evil-villain vibe, and even some of the women I had a hard time distinguishing. These were sort of minor annoyances though and I didn't really notice it anymore about quarter of the way through the book.

lame, non adventurous melodrama bla bla bla

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

A little back story for important characters is good but come on lady! i'm like "oh not again!" I kept waiting for the story to move forward and get to the killer ticks! nope. This is not a story about killer ticks. its about how people feel about themselves while they become mildly uncomfortable on vacation. boooooooo!

What three words best describe Hillary Huber’s performance?

"phone it in"

Any additional comments?

the writing was OK. The story telling was good, I just didn't like the story it told. i don't like soap operas much.

Wish the narrator was a bit better

The speed the book was read was way too slow for me. Using the sped ups feature didn’t help.

This book sucks

Very dull and difficult to follow. Nothing interesting about the story and zero interesting characters.

Wow

If anyone spends anytime outdoors these days you may have a fear of ticks. They are everywhere. And this story took my fear and made it alive. A world where we are in fear of getting bit by a tick? I’m practically there....

Breath of Fresh Air in Speculative Fiction

This book is a roller coaster that takes you to places you don't expect, and it's an absolute delight. Jones takes a step away from tired sci-fi tropes, and leads you into the queasy, gritty world of an America besieged by a severe tick infestation. Her characters are real, three-dimensional, and subvert your expectations with every chapter. A highly recommended read for anyone looking for a smart, apocalyptic read in the vein of Cormack McCarthy's The Road.

Great Story! Definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed this listen. Very interesting story with great characters that kept me invested throughout.

And OK Reed, but nothing special.

The story sounded great in the preview, but it was pretty lackluster. I’m not sorry I read it, but I was glad when it was over.

Character-driven dystopia (with killer ticks)

Thank goodness I didn’t see the comparison to Station Eleven (which I hated) or I wouldn’t have read the book. Literary writers tackling genre (sci-fi, cli-fi, dystopia, etc.) seem to do it really well or really badly. This was quite good.

World building was good, charter development was excellent, perfect rise and fall (so many books are just one action scene after another, which gets boring).

The only caveat: you can’t be too squeamish about ticks. I had a little difficulty listening to the more graphic parts. If I had been reading, I would have skipped those descriptive parts.