BARBARA KINGSOLVER!!! BARBARA KINGSOLVER, JAKE MAYNARD IS STEALING YOUR PURSE!!!!!!

4.5 stars.
Running from the death of his college education and a father he never knew, Garret Deaver seeks answers and contentment at a salmon processing plant in remote Alaska. Garrett sure is one industrious motherfucker. A beaver, if you will. And he will stop at nothing to climb the ladder at Klak Fancy Salmon, even if the only path there is to betray his coworkers and abuse meth to get the job done.

I went into Slime Line expecting it to be the "little brother" of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, which is one of my all time favorite books. There certainly are many similarities between the two stories (lack of a father figure, poverty, grief, masculine individualism, and drugs abuse to name a few), Slime Line is unique in its commentary of so-called environmental capitalism.

Have you ever truly considered where your food comes from? Do you even have a passing thought about the people who risk their lives to put fish on our tables? Me neither! But Jake Maynard's extensive knowledge of and real-life experience with this dangerous industry lends itself to a stunning and thought-provoking novel that urges you to contemplate the delusion that is the backbone of our capitalist society.

The more serious moments of this quick read are interspersed with a laugh-out-loud satirical analysis of the workplace environment, creating a wholly original, beautiful slice of life look at one man's search for self-actualization.

Thank you so much Jake Maynard, Brilliance Audio, West Virginia University Press, and NetGalley for this advanced audio copy!!