The Line

Written by J.D. Horn

Narrated by Shannon McManus

Savannah is considered a Southern treasure, a city of beauty with a rich, colorful past. Some might even call it magical…

To the uninitiated, Savannah shows only her bright face and genteel manner. Those who know her well, though, can see beyond her colonial trappings and small-city charm to a world where witchcraft is respected, Hoodoo is feared, and spirits linger. Mercy Taylor is all too familiar with the supernatural side of Savannah, being a member of the most powerful family of witches in the South.

Despite being powerless herself, of course.

Having grown up without magic of her own, in the shadow of her talented and charismatic twin sister, Mercy has always thought herself content. But when a series of mishaps—culminating in the death of the Taylor matriarch—leaves a vacuum in the mystical underpinnings of Savannah, she finds herself thrust into a mystery that could shake her family apart…and unleash a darkness the line of Taylor witches has been keeping at bay for generations.

In The Line, the first book of the Witching Savannah series, J.D. Horn weaves magic, romance, and betrayal into a captivating Southern Gothic fantasy with a contemporary flare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480544888

J.D. Horn

J.D. Horn is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Witching Savannah series, as well as the first book in the Witches of New Orleans trilogy, The King of Bones and Ashes. A world traveler and student of French and Russian literature, Horn also has an MBA in international business and formerly held a career as a financial analyst before turning his talent to crafting chilling stories and unforgettable characters. His novels have received global attention and have been translated into more than half a dozen languages. Originally from Tennessee, he currently lives in California with his spouse, Rich. Visit www.JDHornAuthor.com.

Reviews for The Line

[sbshepherd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good character, plot, and storyline development. Multiple twists, turns, family lies, and betrayals that make for an interesting book that holds your attention.

[perpetualrevision · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm still not sure why, but I really enjoyed this take on witch culture and history. Maybe it was the setting in Savannah, GA, which evoked a part of the country that's part of my own history. Or maybe I just enjoyed the main characters' perspective. Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to listening to the next book in the series. I just wish the series was on Scribd!

[anasao · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Line-- narrator just reads - doesn't enliven the story or characters- hard to listen to. Prefer Mia Ellis to narrate this series.

[auntieg0412 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mercy is a likeable character and the background information about Savannah is quite interesting. It was nice to be "spirited" away from reality by this entertaining story. ;-)

[jwitt33 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mercy Taylor is one of the infamous Taylor witches - the only problem is that she is the only Taylor without any magic at all. Her twin sister, Maisie, on the other hand, is one of the most powerful witches in the family. To say that Mercy is treated like a disappointment is an understatement, but she has learned to live with it. When the matriarch of the family is murdered and the most powerful living relative of the family is set to take over the role of anchor of the line of magic they are in charge of keeping balanced (to keep the demons who used to rule the earth locked away), all hell breaks loose. You really see what's going on below the surface of this family, and there is very little that is good. Add to that a few romances that are up in the air, especially between the twins and their boyfriends, and you have the makings of a bewitching magical romance mystery!I loved the characters in this book. They were well defined and very unique. The plot was engaging and the pacing was spot on. The ending had quite a twist, so I'm already looking forward to reading the next book in the series!I enjoyed this story very much and highly recommend it - 5/5 stars.

[josephcamilleri-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

20-year old fraternal twins Mercy and Maisie Taylor are the youngest in a long-established, Savannah-based family of witches. While Maisie seems destined for great things, Mercy has inherited no magical gifts, much to the dismay and scorn of the rest of the family, particularly Great Aunt Ginny. When Maisie finds Ginny murdered, her head bashed in, suspicion falls on the Taylor themselves. But this is the least of the witching community’s worries. Ginny was one of a few powerful “anchors” who hold the “line”, a magical boundary which keeps demons and evil spirits from taking over the world of the living. Ginny’s death threatens to disrupt the fragile balance between the two worlds. The anchor needs to be replaced but who will the Power choose?

In “The Line”, the first of a projected series of novels, J.D.Horn taps into the time-honoured tradition of the Southern Gothic and borrows, somewhat indiscriminately, several tropes of the genre – witches, hoodoo, curses and prophecies, restless spirits, family secrets and sensational revelations, revenge and sudden bursts of violence. There's even a seven-foot golem. The context however is clearly contemporary, making the novel more of an “urban fantasy”. Horn also tones down the darker aspects of the story through judicious use of humour and romance and elements of the coming-of-age novel.

The Line’s strongest point is the narrator and protagonist – Mercy Taylor. By turns feisty and insecure, proud and self-deprecating, she seems to embody the fears and joys and the many contradictions of youth. In Mercy, Horn has created a likeable character who should appeal particularly to the young adult demographic.

This is a highly entertaining novel which augurs well for the rest of the series. 3.5 stars.

This review is of a copy sent to me by the author, whom I thank.

[ncdonnas · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Maybe 2.5. I liked the premise and really enjoyed the audio narration but there were far too many inconsistencies for me to rate this any higher. However, the combination of an interesting story and a solid narration kept me from marking this DNF which I am quick to do when I lose interest.

[melrailey-412132 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book way more than I expected to.

[mary_beth_robb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Trying to decide how I feel about it. It has enough turns in it to be a ride at Disneyland

[tldegray-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5/5 stars. Mercy Taylor is the only member of her family without magic, so when she needs a spell cast she goes to a root doctor, displeasing her Aunt Ginny, the family's matriarch. Mercy is called before Aunt Ginny for what she presumes is yet another dressing down, but when she arrives she finds Aunt Ginny dead. Murdered.

I liked this book quite a bit. It's set in Savannah and the city is nearly a character itself. Mercy is devoted to her twin Maisie, and her love for her aunts is obvious. What's surprising is the bond Mercy forms with Jilo Wills, the root doctor.

I absolutely did not see the twist coming. I had no idea who was behind everything that happened and why, yet when I found out it all made sense.

(Provided by publisher)

[darcia_10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a light read, and a good diversion from the day-to-day nonsense reality hands out. I was interested enough to keep reading, though I wasn't blown away.The good stuff: I loved the setting. Savannah has that whole Gothic edge, as if ghosts and magic are always lingering in the air. The author does a great job of capturing this essence and placing us in its midst. The murder mystery worked well as a subplot. There was a good twist with the whodunit aspect.The not so good stuff:Mercy's character was a problem for me throughout. First, she often behaves immaturely for her age and circumstances. Her character has more of a YA feel than the story warrants. Next, she grows up surrounded by magic, yet barely understands it and, apparently, rarely questioned it until a sudden turnabout nearing her 21st birthday. No one taught her anything, which she seemed to accept without question or curiosity. Her character just feels flat and submissive.Mercy is the center of a romantic triangle of sorts that appears without explanation or buildup, and disappears just as quickly. Mercy's reaction to both men at various points throughout made no sense to me. I never felt any actual romance or love, but only jealousy, manipulation, and a certain kind of resolve.Finally, the issue with Mercy's sister and the explosive climax was obvious in its buildup, probably to everyone other than Mercy. Her reaction afterward was far too passive. I think the aim was for Mercy to be the kind of character who is above the fray, sweet and nice at heart, but she tends to come off as a bit of a doormat. The ending does give promise to interesting things to come in the series.

[bookjunkie777 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good character, plot, and storyline development. Multiple twists, turns, family lies, and betrayals that make for an interesting book that holds your attention.

[heylu-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars

I must say I was quite surprised with this book. I went into the book extremely wary as I've had a few bad experiences with books from the amazon lending library. I had low expectations, so therefore anything other than horrific failure would have impressed me. With that in mind, I really enjoyed “The Line.” I’m not sure if it was because I went into it expecting failure, or because it was a fun read, but either way, I liked it and am tempted to pick up the second book in the series.

The book starts off a bit rocky, introducing us to the soon-to-be 21 year old protagonist, Mercy Taylor, a tour guide that specializes in twisting the truth about local spots into something more colourful for bored tourists. At the start, she sounded and acted much younger than 21, as I originally thought she was still in her teens, given the way she behaved. Mercy is a twin and a dud at that. She comes from a large, prominent family of witches and is constantly reminded for the family position and her lack of magical abilities, while her sister is the most powerful witch the family had seen in a very long time.

As she has no powers of her own, she finds herself going to a local ‘hoodoo’ doctor when she needs a spell to make herself fall in love with her friend who has been deeply in love with her for forever it seems. This is when the book starts to get interesting. A spell is performed, a murder committed, a position usurped, and eventually an understanding reached. All of the family secrets that kept coming up and undone were interesting, and things I did not expect considering the slightly lulling beginning and something I thought may have been a product of poor writing, turned out to be perfectly executed.

There are a few moments that may turn readers off and make you very uncomfortable. Both are abuses of power against women that leave them very violated. I was left feeling unsettled with one of these situations and really, really hope younger readers understand that these actions were wrong and are not left confused by the mixed message being given by the author.

Overall, the book is free and an easy read, though it does present various problematic messages concerning love that may be difficult to ignore.

[parhamj-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I could be a bit of a dim-watt bulb but I had a difficult time following the mythology of this one. And as is becoming my tired and overused mantra: I didn't feel overly connected to the characters.

The Line is the first book in a series of novels about families of witches that are tasked with protecting "The Line" -- what sounds like a barrier between the human world and an alternate dimension ruled by the very demons that use to rule this one, but found themselves exiled by ancestors of these witching families. Enter Mercy, a fraternal twin born into the powerful Line-guarding Taylor Family, who appears to have no magical abilities of her own, and is perfectly comfortable hiding in her twin sister, Maisie's, shadow. Shortly after the book begins, the matriarch of the Taylor family is found brutally murdered, and everyone prepares for Maisie to take over as "The Anchor" -- or the representative of the family whose sole job is to continue protecting The Line.

Mercy doesn't have much to do initially except pine away hopelessly for her sister's boyfriend and fend off the romantic advances of her best friend, Peter, until the witch families come together for the ceremony that officially determines the next anchor. When powerless Mercy draws the lot, things go haywire.

Sounds very interesting, and in theory it should be, but I couldn't quite get on board because a) as I mentioned above, there is a lot of mythology in this book - a lot of hows and whys - that I couldn't quite make sense of, like this idea of non-witches harnessing witch's powers, and these creatures called "boo hags" or "shadows." And b) there are characters here that seem superfluous - like Mother Jilo? What purpose does she serve? - and other characters that should be more interesting but just aren't because they aren't developed enough, like many of Mercy and Maisie's aunts and uncles.

When the big reveals start coming at the end of the book, like who killed Taylor Matriarch Ginny, I couldn't bring myself to care because I didn't care about the characters doing the revealing. In fact, one of the few characters that was interesting, and in my opinion, nicely developed, was Wren, the "imaginary friend" created by one of said Taylor uncles, who grew strong enough to become a manifested being. I thought that idea was interesting.

But on the whole, I am going to find it difficult to muster the motivation to read the next book in the series. I didn't care enough about the characters in this one... about the only thing that would get me to pick up The Source is a hope that the mythology of this universe is explained in more detail. Like the climactic events of this novel? What the hey-yo was going on??

[ashleylynnwillis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it. I'm such a sucker for southern Goth.

[soireadthisbooktoday · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Who would that old woman have accepted her death from? That’s the Question you need to be askin’.” Mother Jilo, The Line

An atmosphere of lies like that infects and poisons the whole life of a home. In a house like that, every breath that the children take is filled with the germs of evil.
HENRIK IBSEN, A Doll's House

The allure of having unlimited access to power was too hard to resist. If Mercy Taylor had remembered that, had truly thought about it? Well, who knows what pain could have been diverted. What truths could have been uncovered. But when you are just about to turn twenty-one, and power has never been within your grasp, it is understandable, maybe even admirable, that the true brutalities of power are outside your comprehension. But given a bit of power, what will even the most innocent among us reach for? And given unlimited power, what atrocities might one commit in the name of that power?

Mercy Taylor is in that most uncomfortable of positions. A magical dud in a family of some of the most powerful witches in the world. Mercy is happy however, enjoying her life leading “The Liars Tour of Savannah,” getting her customers a little buzzed, telling ‘some black and wicked lies about the people of her hometown,” and basically enjoying her life. It’s simple, and it is all hers. Well, mostly happy, except for the fact that she is loved by a good man, yet loves the man who belongs to her twin sister – the twin sister who is in line to take a place as one of the ten who control The Line, the magical wall between this world and the others.

And so, Mercy makes a mistake. A mistake with the best of intentions, but with deep and unforeseen consequences. And yet – is the mistake really her own? Or is her mistake simply a smokescreen, misdirection for something much deeper and more twisted, betrayal upon shocking betrayal?

I received this book through Amazon’s “Kindle First” program. I get the opportunity to choose one of four books featured for free each month in advance of the release date. I love these opportunities to meet new and upcoming authors and get a peek at their books before anyone else. And, yes, the opportunity to brag about it, and to help a new author as much as possible to get the word out about their works. To be honest, this is one of the better “Kindle First” books I have read, and I am happy to have found this bright new author.

[molecular-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Totally Unexpected Excellence

What a wonderful, magical story with lovable, morally complex characters, a tight plot, vivid imagery and extensive creativity. The plot twists in the murder mystery along with other story arcs are fast and furious. You won't know what is really going on in the Taylor family of Savannah starting from the first words about the Liars Tour, through the entire book, until the final pages. When you get to see the outcome, you will be quite surprised.

The characterization was world-class, with even secondary characters being given intellectual, emotional and physical profiles as well as good backstory. The main characters are done so well that they almost feel like people you know.

The story itself is a a tightly plotted gem, using multiple story arcs to drive to a single dramatic conclusion. Each arc is tightly woven into the others and at points, they drive each other forward - always racing to that same unified conclusion. It a masterpiece of weaving that Mr. Horn has achieved to accomplish this well planned, tightly knit story with what seems like effortlessly swift pacing. Except, we all know that anything this tight and seemingly effortless is in actuality a solid lot of good old fashioned blood, sweat and tears.

I won't rehash the plot, as many will do that for me, but I will say, for a book about a centuries old witching family in Savannah, this story does not stoop to using magic as SFX, as in movies, to prop up a weak or thin story, instead, this story is so rich in human affairs of the heart, the head, between lovers, between parents and kids, between siblings, between generations that magic becomes almost like a frame for the story to exist inside. Even without the magic, the story would have been good. With the magic, the story is indescribably better.

Is this book a thumping good read? My answer is an emphatic YES! I recommend to everyone who reads and enjoys any story about an extended family in the South, their loves, their history, their troubles, and their secrets. Everyone knows that we all have skeletons in the closets in the South, along with locked trunks stuffed full of family secrets long buried from even our own family members. We even have our own version of crazy down here in the South, some which we hire away, others which become local color. That's another reason I loved this story, in a lot of ways, it feels like home to me.

Highly recommended! 5 stars! I finished the book in 5 hours in a single sitting - I literally could not put it down. Maybe Mr. J. D. Horn learned how to compel his readers from those Savannah Witches and no one has a choice once they start reading, OR it could just be that Horn as an author is so amazingly proficient at his prose that the novel reached a high level of excellence that is not commonly seen in today's fiction. In a nutshell... Buy it. Read it. Read it again slower the second time so you don't miss anything. Bravo J.D.! This one is something special.

Thank You Mr. Horn for writing such an incredible work. I truly loved it.

[turrean_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Got this pre-pub through the "Kindle First" program.

Mercy is an apparently ordinary person born to a powerful family of witches. Her twin sister has all the power, charisma, and looks. The tyrannical witch who has been the head of their clan for decades dies in uncanny circumstances; a few sexy but boorish men hover around the two sisters; and an astonishing number of family secrets come to light in the month-long span of the book. No one is who they seem to be, and Mercy has to come to grips it all.

The Savannah setting was great. The heat, the tourists, the descriptions of several monuments and parks all added to a clear sense of place. In particular, the scene set near the old Candler Hospital was eerily well-detailed.

The cast of characters was large; I can see the author is making a run at a series, so this is the book in which he establishes everybody's backstory. Over the course of the novel, some shocking revelations come to light which completely change our understanding of the people in Mercy's life.

Several of them do flip back and forth between good and evil in a way I found pretty unconvincing. (One does a complete journey from Glinda to Wicked Witch and back again twice. Would you like some sweet tea? And a knife in your heart?) I also found the selection of the successor to the powerful "anchor" position baffling. The author dedicates quite a bit of time describing the importance of the process to the witches involved. Yet when the magical selection yields a wildly unconventional candidate for the job, everyone kind of throws up their hands and says, "Probably just a mistake. We'll ignore it," and goes on as if everything had proceeded as expected.

These are safely minor points, though. Mercy is a complete innocent when it comes to dealing with her Machiavellian family; the reader learns along with her. The characters were refreshingly complex, the setting was a treat, and woohoo! a love triangle (quadrangle?) with no vampires or werewolves. I'll be back for the next book.

[cats57_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A younger audience might appreciate this book more than a more mature one. This book would appeal to the 15 to 25 year old range while leaving most of the more mature readers a little cold or out in left field. The author has done a good job trying to reconcile the fact that his main protagonist is a very immature 21 year old, but her (Mercy Taylor, witch) attitudes and naiveté grated on my nerves. I am sure that in upcoming books in this series will show Mercys growth. This book reminded me very much of Charlaine Harris’s early books about Sookie Stackhouse, before Sookie had a chance to grow.Mercy is one of a pair of twins – one has gotten all the magic and Mercy is left without any. Or, so it seems on the surface. This book is filled with murder, backstabbing, lies upon lies and yes magic! We start out with a book that seems as if it is going to be a romance novel about a love triangle between one boy and the two sisters, but soon a murder is thrown into the equation and whole lot of other magical maneuverings, black-magic, more deaths, more violence and a whole lot of betrayal. If the author can get Mercy and her kin over the hump, then this will most likely turn into a lively and likable series.

[karieh_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Holy cow! This new Amazon Prime feature that gives us a choice of one free Kindle book a month is fabulous! First I read Timebound by Rysa Walker - which I loved and then last night I downloaded "The Line" - and just finished it.It's been quite a while since I stayed up late reading - but I found myself playing the "just one more chapter" game until nearly midnight. The story is immediately engrossing and the heroine, Mercy, is interesting and relatable. There is a LOT going on in this book, a great deal of backstory and details about this "witchy" world that the author needs to impart to the reader - and he parses it out in very manageable and very satisfying amounts.I was very sad to see the percentage complete rise on my Kindle but I couldn't stop reading. While not great literature, this is a great story and a very enjoyable book to read. I am both thrilled and upset that this is Book One. Thrilled because I want more of this story and these characters - but upset because I am sure I will have to wait for Book Two.