top of page

Pipeliner by Shawn Hartje (Review)

"Funny thing about that, I could hardly play until I was thrown into some heavy fire. You were right about that, sometimes people learn best under fire"


Guess who´s back? Hello guys! I´m sorry for leaving you all for so long, time hasn´t been on my side, but anyway, today you´re going to read a spoiler free review (Yes, TOTALLY spoiler free) of Pipeliner , a novel written by Shawn Hartje. I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review and that´s exactly what you guys are going to get, so, let me start by introducing you this novel, to let you understand a little bit better what I am talking about...


For seventeen-year-old Jason Krabb, high school life in 1990s Idaho is a world of cargo shorts, cassette tapes, and junk food. Plagued equally by algebra and puberty, Jason sets out to find a girlfriend and become a rock guitarist. His quest is irreversibly jolted when he attends a bonfire and meets an alluring girl from the other side of town and a rag tag crew who are bringing gas lines through the desert in order to keep the lights on in Portland and Seattle, places where Jason hopes to find his nirvana as a guitarist.

Meanwhile, things deteriorate at home. Jason's pediatrician mom, Leah, sadly faces the twilight of her parenting years while his father, Curtis, contends with the enormity of running a big ticket research laboratory and coming to terms with his son's wayward path.

Jason´s life in the start of this book was absolutely directionless, he wasn´t doing so good at school and he only cared about his music and his guitar. As the synopsis of he book says, this books sets at 1990 and we have Jason Krabb who´s a student of high school and like any other kid, he has a dream of becoming something else than what everyone tells him to be. I must say the author did a pretty good job with the writing, because you felt like you were in those times, he transported me to 1990 while I was reading this book.


One thing I truly didn´t like, was the abundance of characters, because I´m pretty bad with remembering, so as a result I got confused and didn´t fully enjoy the book, but I can get that as the book is about Jason, and this guy is a student of high school and he´s in the process of growing up, sure he´s going to meet and have lots of people around. Even though that bothered me a little, I think this story is pretty good, the author did a pretty good job while developing the main character, i truly liked Jason because you can truly get him and the environment he´s in and what he´s going through during the book.



I didn´t think the book was that catchy, i think it has a strong story and pretty well developed characters, but i must say it wasn´t that catchy to me, but because of Jason´s and his friends sense of humour, it was enjoyable to read. I´ll recommend this to you because it is the story of how this kid is growing up and realizing that people struggle and have problems too, just like him, and about how people can influence in your life. In my truly opinion, the author did a great job with this book, even though he could have made it a little bit more catchier, he could have make the story even stronger and more interesting than it already was, so… I give this book…. 4/5 stars, if you want to know why it is called Pipeliner, go and read this book, yes… right now, go ahead. See you next time readers!

About the author:

Shawn Hartje was raised in Sioux City, Iowa and has lived in Idaho, Colorado and West Virginia. He has lived in Northern California since 2002. He enjoys high desert scenery and skateboarding with his kids.

Links to get Pipeliner:





bottom of page