If you’ve never read anything by Tosca Lee, The Line Between is a good place to start. My first Tosca Lee read was her debut novel, Demon, back in 2010 (updated with Howard Books, 2015). However, I fell in love with her lyrical writing style in her first BIBLICAL novel, Havah, the story of Eve. I’ve read every one of her biblical novels since–and been captured by her poetic voice and thorough research.
I discovered the woman behind the words when we met at the 2017 Blue Ridge Christian Writer’s Conference. Tender and a little wacky, this sweet gal won a place in my heart as more than an admired author. I’m honored to call her friend, though we don’t have frequent contact, and I applaud her writing achievements–of which there are many.
In the August 29, 2019 issue of FamilyFiction online magazine, I read an intriguing interview about Tosca’s dystopian thriller, The Line Between.
I distinctly remember this question & answer:
FF Interviewer: Tosca, The Line Between is a conspiracy thriller that details the impact of a mysterious outbreak. What inspired such a frighteningly plausible setup like this?
Tosca: Scarily enough—the headlines! The book was inspired by actual news articles about diseases, bacteria, and microbes—even “zombie worms”—lying dormant in permafrost that is melting around the world today. Just a few years ago, a reindeer carcass infected with anthrax thawed from the Siberian permafrost, infecting a nearby village and killing a little boy. Scientists are wary about what else a good thaw might produce. (from: https://www.familyfiction.com/speculative-author-interview-tosca-lee-grabbed-headlines/)
March 2020 COVID Conversation:
Tosca contacted me when Roy and I returned from our mid-March Israel tour. (The COVID outbreak peaked while we were there.) She planned to read a chapter of her book, Iscariot (my favorite), every night at 9pm on Facebook Live to give folks a sense of consistency and remind them of our God’s power, and she wanted to offer Isaiah’s Legacy as a giveaway.
We chatted a little then about The Line Between and the kooky similarities happening between her book and the days we were experiencing.
That’s when I decided–I had to read this book! (Or listen to it.) 😉
Book Description:
In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming.
When Wynter Roth is turned out of New Earth, a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie, she emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation.
As Wynter struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life—until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples. That night, Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play and that these samples are key to understanding the disease.
Now, as the power grid fails and the nation descends into chaos, Wynter must find a way to get the samples to a lab in Colorado. Uncertain who to trust, she takes up with former military man Chase Miller, who has his own reasons for wanting to get close to the samples in her possession, and to Wynter herself.
My Review:
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 1/2
The Prologue immediately draws us into a strange world about an Alaskan farmer that butchered a maniacal pig. Next, we meet a woman with two daughters who really tugs at our heartstrings. What do these things have in common?
That’s where Tosca’s magic begins the fast-paced suspense ride. Hubby and I hated to turn off our audiobook for those potty breaks and meal stops!
Tosca always does fantastic research and creates believable characters. Wynter Roth’s cult involvement made her both fascinating and sympathetic. That cultic piece also upped the tension and added a quality of mystery. And because of Tosca’s connection with medical professionals, she explains enough science to make the creepy stuff cool!
So why not give it 5 stars? I didn’t hear the lilting quality of Tosca’s writing voice, and I missed it. Maybe it wouldn’t be appropriate for this genre, and–admittedly–I’m partial to historicals and biblical fiction.
A warning for those who read solely in the CBA market: Though I found nothing personally offensive in the book, some folks might not appreciate Tosca’s word choice in a few places.
The Line Between is a fascinating read! Though it was published January 2019, it is remarkably accurate about our 2020 COVID outbreak and eerily similar to how our nation in particular is reacting to it (minus the power grid failure–please, Lord, don’t let that happen!). How amazing to see fiction so closely mirror fact!
I hope you’ll pick up a copy The Line Between—even if it’s just to marvel at how a pig and a cult can rule the world! 😉
