The Salt Line

By: Holly Goddard Jones

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

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

Critic reviews

“Jones' darkly clever worldbuilding creates a nightmare that seems far from unthinkable....It's The Hunger Games meets The Godfather meets Robin Cook, with female characters playing all the key roles. Hell, yeah.” (Kirkus Reviews starred review)

“Social commentary and intense thrills rolled into one seamless story. Outwardly an adventure story, this suspenseful novel uses a thrilling premise to examine the fallout of abandoning universal freedoms in order to ensure collective safety.” (Publishers Weekly)

“The mystery-like structure keeps the reader guessing as Jones switches seamlessly from evocative pastoral descriptions of North Carolina and Tennessee to action-packed scenes of violence....At once dark, disturbing, and highly enjoyable, this is a timely novel bursting with ideas.” (Booklist)

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.

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.

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.

Started strong

This starts off strong with a cool concept but the direction it ended up going felt really half baked. The back stories for each main a character were detailed and interesting but somewhere around chapter 13-14, it felt like those took over the actual plot. The mix of post apocalyptic adventure and kind of political tech drama was different and I feel like this might have worked better as the beginning of a series. Maybe it is? Five years insist that long between books I suppose? Overall not bad but I expected more.

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.

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.

intersting storyline

Would you listen to The Salt Line again? Why?

probably not. the characters while fine, weren't robust enough for me to have an affinity with, and i need to be able to feel the character, or empathise with them to re-read / re-listen.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

i thought the ending was expected.

Any additional comments?

i thought the character of andy was quite weak and ill thought out. he just wasn't realistic enough in his emotions and actions.

i felt that violet and her relationships weren't cemented enough. we hear all about her history, but it wasn't enough, it was a veneer.

the narrator did a good job though, and i quite enjoyed her voices.

Great listen

I had this book in my library for quite some time before I actually listened to it, as if I was reluctant. I should not have. This was an interesting listen with a couple of interesting plot twists that made me lie in bed and feel for any bumps on my body. I would have like to hear of the others in the epilogue, maybe there was another book. I'll have to look and see. I had not heard nay of Hillary's narratives before. I really like what she did with the intonations and voices in the story.

Great Story! Definitely recommend.

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

Great

Loved this book. Great, believable characters in an unusual situation. Excellent writing. I can’t wait for her next nivel.