The Line by Teri Hall - Review

Just read this great review of Teri Hall's The Line by my colleague, Vivian, and had to share it here:

Threatened by a hostile force, the US government, overnight, without warning, sets up an unbreachable border that left those on the other side stranded forever in a toxic wasteland. Families were divided; communication ceased. Now "Away," the land on the other side of The Line and the "Others" who may have survived there have become irretrievably foreign to those inside the new totalitarian post-war state the former United States has become. Few even dare live close to The Line. But for some like Rachel and her widowed Mom, the less supervised zones close to the border are a refuge from the authorities. They live on a large estate, The Property, owned by the curt and strict Mrs. Moore, a place where everyone has secrets.

Rachel's life is quiet and lonely. She cares for Mrs. Moore's orchids, studies with her Mom, and goes on infrequent trips for supplies to the nearest town. Daily she gazes across the Line and wonders what lies on the other side. From her home-school lessons Rachel understands that her parents held dangerous views on civil rights and government propaganda. But when a woman in town is brutally picked up by the security forces, and Rachel finds a recorded appeal for help by the stream that runs onto The Property from Away, she can no longer stand and watch on the margin. She is determined to help, determined to cross the Line.

The first in a new series, this suspenseful and tightly scripted adventure about an all too possible future echoes the urgent issues of our time: where lies the line between our collective security and individual rights?

Oh, this looks good. OK, another one to add to my ever expanding TBR pile.