Book Review: The Line Between by Tosca Lee

Tosca Lee takes the reader on a tour de force exploring the thin line between genius and insanity; fantasy and reality; love and obsession; illumination and brainwashing; a safe haven and a slave camp; abundance and need; death and survival.

In her elegant prose, the master storyteller weaves a complex, fast-paced tale of deceit, desperation, dystopia - and perhaps salvation? We are introduced to scientific facts, natural curiosities - abnormal proteins known as prions - always fatal, ancient seeds (1,000+ year old crapaudine beet, Methuselah Judean date), the mangalitsa pig, obviously the product of the author's trademark of painstaking research for her novels.

The protagonist, Wynter Roth, is an outcast of a present-day version of a Branch Davidian doomsday religious cult, in a world beset with a mysterious pandemic of rapid early onset dementia, shootings, avalanches, hurricanes, and an attack on the power grid of the U.S.A. in what appears to be the outbreak of world war 3.

Is Magnus Theisen, a former GMO-based seed company founder and collector of ancient seeds, an inspirational spiritual leader and founder of a safe haven for the masses from the turmoils of the "outside world", or a blasphemous, greedy messiah giving up all to sate his lust for sex, power and money, and to solely possess the purported catalyst for the fountain of youth.

With overwhelming odds stacked against Roth, the only choice in the end is between a rock and a hard place. Or is there a line between - some hidden sanctuary?

Review based on an advance reading copy presented by NetGalley and Howard Books.

This is the first solo book I’ve read from Lee, but it will not be the last. (Prior to this, I’ve only read a book she co-wrote with Ted Dekker.)

The story alternates between Wynter’s past (inside the cult) and present (outside the cult), so the reader is updated on the backstory without having info dumps. The quick pace of the story keeps the reader actively engaged. Characters and scenes are well drawn and easy to visualize. I particularly liked Wynter, who was a strong, determined heroine. Overall, the premise was a unique one for me (a girl cast out of a cult combined with an apocalyptic angle). While fiction, and some parts a bit harder to believe than others, Lee gives the reader a lot to think about (the danger of false prophets, how far people will go to fulfill their own wants, disease, etc.).

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley, but I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

I quite enjoyed reading this book. I love reading about "end of the world" "pandemic" "cult" which are all included in this book. The book is written in chapters from the past and then the present. I normally enjoy reading books that are written in this format, but this time it would have worked so much better if the chapters had been labelled "past" and "present". I would find myself reading, the end of the chapter would come. Flip the page and continue reading only to realize that the timeline had changed. This was somewhat annoying when the book became more intense and you want to go with that feeling of "yikes, what happens next", only to have your suspense killed by the next chapter reverting to the past instead of sticking with the present. I'm not a writer and not even a good reviewer to be honest, but i feel the book could have flowed better. With all that said, I still highly recommend that you read this book. Thanks to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for sending me an advance copy for my honest opinion.

This fast-paced tale takes us into the heart of a doomsday cult and through the all-too-possible reality of a flu epidemic.

As a young girl, Wynter Roth is forced to quickly adopt the rules in the cult as the family flees an abusive situation. It was fascinating to see how people make a new reality in the cult and mostly forget about elements of their previous lives. Things begin to take a sinister turn and Wynter is thrown out of the cult and exiled from the only family she knows.

She struggles outside the gates of the community, grappling with what she was taught in the cult and the new realities. It does seem like the world is coming to an end with all the news stories she sees and the epidemic that seems to be taking over the country. Wynter is given a chance to help determine the cause of the epidemic, but it's a battle against renegades and the all-powerful cult still exerting influence over her life. Along the way, she meets a military man who helps her.

This was a quick, engaging read with some interesting plot twists. Makes me want to get a double flu shot this year!

I thought The Line Between was a great read. I highly recommend it and am giving it a well deserved five stars.

Wynter, her sister Jaclyn and their mother arrive at the Enclave and feel safe for the first time. At first everything seems peaceful. They have learned a new life and Magnus, the founder of the Enclave, seems like he truly is the mouthpiece of God as he claims. After years of Magnus telling the people what God expects of them and being their prophet how can they doubt him when he has a new revelation from God? Wynter does just that though, and it eventually gets her banished from the Enclave into eternal hell(the outside world).



When her mother's best friend picks Wynter up from the Enclave she takes her home and has to teach Wynter a whole new way of thinking. Strange things are happening in the world now. People seem to be getting early onset dementia for no reason. Could Magnus possibly have been right? Is the world really coming to an end? When her sister Jaclyn escapes the Enclave with something of Magnus's, Wynter's life is in danger as she risks travelling to Colorado to help save those infected with this horrifying disease. With the world in chaos, and lawlessness abounding, nowhere seems safe for Wynter. With the help of a stranger will Wynter be able to reach her destination and then ultimately go back to the one place she fears most in order to save one more person from the Enclave?



Author Tosca Lee certainly knows how to write a nail-biting suspenseful novel! I loved this one from the very first page to the very last page! Wynter's time in the cult was written in flash-back form which was interesting to me. I didn't understand all of the scientific terms of the disease, just that it wasn't good! The author wrote very believably about the life of the cult and also what could happen if there ever was a pandemic breakout, with lawlessness abounding, but also the ability for humans to help each other survive. I love Chase's character! An ex-Marine and very capable of protecting Wynter and getting her to where she needs to go. THE LINE BETWEEN was very entertaining and hard for me to put down! I haven't read whether the author plans a sequel, but I think there needs to be one as there were several things left unanswered. Entertaining, suspenseful in parts, and scary to think that something like this may someday happen in our world. I definitely recommend this book!

I loved this book so much I endorsed it. Tosca is a master storyteller who is able to take her readers on an incredible journey. Her characters are so real they step off the page, and her captivating plot kept me turning pages long past my bedtime. I highly recommend this book!

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

Really gripping book. Modern-day post-apocalyptic tropes are my favourites and this just cements that as the case.

Well paced, becoming a real page-turner action adventure with a ticking time bomb as it goes on. I've read it in one day, largely in one sitting as a result.

Odd cover choice, and the book description only becomes relevant after a decent portion of the book - as well as giving mild spoilers about the cause of the drama, so it's worth bearing that in mind.

The book begins with Wynter being expelled from a doomsday cult called New Earth, leaving behind her beloved niece, and facing the outside world for the first time since she was a small child, with the help of an old family friend. A short time later, people across the country start showing dangerous, violent and self-destructive signs of what appears to be Rapid Early Onset Dementia spreading quickly via a virus.
Over the course of the book Wynter discovers links between this apocalyptic narrative and New Earth, and ends up on a mission to deliver crucial material to a university that can help create a vaccine - several states away, with limited gas and supplies, and with a manhunt going on to find her. She meets both friends and foes along the way, and all characters felt fully developed.

Thank you to Howard Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy. An exciting page turner of a thriller, about Wynter Roth who grows up from a child in a cult that is always waiting for the apocalypse. Now grown the blinders fall from her eyes as she realizes the cult, and especially its leader is not what it seems . Cast out she has little time to adjust to the real world when a new flu virus causes people to develop early onset dementia and then die. The country is plunged into chaos, and Wynter is tasked with helping to save it.

I loved the storyline and its well written characters. The plot was steadily building, and I was at the edge of my seat, when the story stopped too abruptly. I dont think enough time was spent writing the ending, and because I am fully invested in the characters, I hate not knowing what happens to them. I can only hope this book is the first in a series and there is definitely a sequel. I’d give it five stars but for that. .

Very compelling story! A lot of action, twists, and even a budding romance ;)

What could be the end of humanity causes a lot of issues and the characters are compelling and interesting.

Thank you for creating an interesting WTSHTF situation without zombies! I didn't connect much with Wynter but found her believable- I guess spending your youth in a cult would definitely wash your personality out. I was more eager to follow what was happening in the world around her. Several of the characters in the second half of the book (Chase, Noah) were really cool.

The Line Between is a thriller about Wynter, a young woman banished from the cult she has lived in since she was a child. She is attempting to come to terms with the world she is presented with as she finds herself in the middle of a major epidemic. She is also dealing with the the anguish of leaving her family behind. This was a very enjoyable book for me. I will certainly recommend it.
I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This one kept me awake as it is very captivating. This novel is more or less two separate stories that connect in Wynter Roth. At the beginning of the novel Wynter is banned from the religious cult she grew up in and in Alaska a hog eats from a defrosted Caribou carcass.

One storyline is Wynter looking back on her life so far. As a young girl her mum took her daughters and joined a religious cult that runs a settlement and sells heirloom seeds. Through the eyes of a child and teenager we see the cracks in the veneer. This part of the novel was the most interesting and the best psychologically developed.

This story is woven into a pandemic disaster story. Some months after Wynter went to live with her late mother's best friend that lady's husband, a doctor, is called to research weird cases of early onset dementia that are popping up. One evening he calls them and warns them to leave the city as he expects a pandemic to happen. While the family sleeps in preparation of an early departure Wynter's sister rings the doorbell and hands Wynter a package related to the disease that was bought by the leader of the cult. From that moment on the story turns into an action thriller with Wynter crossing a country in chaos.

That action part of the story is very entertaining but lacks the depth of the other storyline. For instance I did not feel her grieve. But that might be due to the anti-anxiety medication she is still taking. But developing a serum is as far as I know quite time-consuming.

What is interesting to see is how the writer puts one religious man who is a prepper (someone who thinks the world will end soon and hordes food and supplies) but who is utterly selfish against another prepper who is religious in his actions (and named something sounding like Peter's son) who is a good person and utterly unselfish. I like it when in books religious people are not painted as all nutcases or people faking goodness.

I am wondering what the title mean. The fine line between good and bad? Or the line between the two stories? Or the line between the two sisters?


All in all a very entertaining book. A four stars out of five.

I really liked this book. At first I wasn't sure I would, with the back and forth between the past and present, I liked the virus and the end of the world action, I didn't like the past and the cult so much, though I can understand why it was needed, and it actually flowed really well. I just like the apocalyptic type books and the aftermath better, but that's just my personal preference. Once I got into the flow of past and present I was okay, the book flowed smoothly and the world building and characters were good. I want there to be a second one that continues on with what happens afterwards!

The Line Between was an exciting thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat. I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn't read it fast enough. I was completely sucked into the story. The walls of my bedroom faded away and I was right there in the thick of things alongside Wynter.

It switches between two time periods – the past which explores Wynter's life inside the cult of New Earth and then present day after Wynter is kicked out of the cult.

Wynter was a great character. She had a bit of a tough time readjusting to normal society. The teachings she learned in the cult seemed to torment her. She was constantly bombarded with things that were 'forbidden' and plagued with thinking that there was no saving her soul now. It was heartbreaking, but she's quite the resilient young lady. I really admired her bravery, strength, and determination to overcome it all.

I'll be thinking about this novel for a long time to come. It was quite terrifying because it's not out of the realm of possibility for something like what happens in the book to actually happen in real life. It's a scary thought, but it was such a compelling read. I can't wait for the sequel.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and comments are my honest opinion.

I was intrigued when I first read the premise for this book- a young woman leaves a cult around the same time a mysterious virus begins taking hold across America, causing people to literally lose their minds. Interesting, right? Well I am very glad I took a chance with this book because The Line Between by Tosca Lee was an amazingly good read!

Wynter Roth first enters New Earth, a doomsday cult, as a child along with her older sister and mother in an attempt to flee the girls' abusive father. All three members of the Roth family become enamored with the charismatic (aren't they all?) cult-leader, Magnus, a millionaire former CEO. However, we initially meet Wynter as she is being forcefully expelled from the cult, thrown out for some unknown misdeed.

Meanwhile, a pig farmer in Alaska is faced with the shocking and gruesome death of his prized pigs. Additionally, people throughout the country are coming down with rapid-onset dementia and officials have no idea what is causing this sudden hysteria. 

If it seems a bit weird to have two completely different plots going on, yes. I felt that too in the beginning. But it works, I promise. The two story lines come together brilliantly. Wynter is such a great character too- strong, traumatized from her years being brainwashed, full of love for her sister and her niece.  She is willing to do anything to keep them safe. 

A thriller through and through, this book had me guessing and second-guessing at every turn. I know apocalyptic thrillers are still quite the rage, and some are just terrible, but this one is so original and exciting. Tosca Lee does an amazing job exploring Wynter's transition from cult to normal life to panic outbreak, and I was fully captivated until the last page!

4.5 stars out of 5 for The Line Between by Tosca Lee, which comes out January 29th, 2019.

As always, thank you to NetGalley and Howard Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book keeps things moving along quickly, alternating chapters filling in Wynter's backstory with fast-paced action during a outbreak of apocalyptic proportions. I liked the characters and the story. Occasionally, things happened a little too neatly, but it didn't dampen my enjoyment. I raced through the book to find out what happens, for all the characters and the world.

This book was something else! I think it must be really hard to combine an apocalypse with a girl that gets cast out of a cult, but Lee does so beautifully. I opened the book and was immediately pulled in. This girl, Wynter, has been in this cult since she was 7 years old. She can remember life before but it isn't until her mother dies and her sister gets married to the Warren Jeffs of the compound that she begins to open her eyes - especially when homie wants to take a second wife....Wynter. I don't want to give much away, but dammmmn.

You guys, this book IS SOMETHING ELSE. I mean, some of it is a little reaching but for the most part it kept me going, interested from the first to last pages, and I have already recommended it to three people! Can't wait to buy the book for my shelf!

I read this book in less than 24 hours. It grabbed me right away.
There is something reminiscent to Margaret Atwood in this book.

Our protagonist Wynter, is a young woman banished from the cult-compound she has lived in since she was a child. Faced with the struggle of amalgamating back into society, as well as dealing with the heartbreak of leaving her family behind, Wynter finds herself in the middle of a major epidemic. People are getting sick all around her.

Tosca Lee's compelling story telling and likable characters makes this book a home run for me.

THE LINE BETWEEN by TOSCA LEE is a fictional apocalyptic story which gives the reader a great deal of food for thought. It shows very clearly man's inhumanity towards his fellow man, the dangers in getting involved with false prophets and religious cults, and the ends to which people will go in order to line their own pockets. Add to all this the resurgence of a centuries old disease which makes people go mad and is very contagious, plus loss of electricity countrywide, and you get a fast paced, exciting, thriller.
Wynter, who has lived behind the walls of the New Earth compound since the age of five and Chase, who she meets on the road as she is trying to get valuable specimens to someone who will be able to use them to make a vaccine against the killer disease, are two of the "good guys" who risk everything to complete their mission.
I really enjoyed the novel and could not put it down.
I was given a free copy of the book by Howard Books from NetGalley. The opinions in this review are completely my own.