Pipeliner, By Shawn Hartje
A coming-of-age story of first love, friendship, and finding your place in a changing world — narrated by Theo Polo.
Who narrates Pipeliner?
Theo Polo narrates Pipeliner: A 90s Love Story, written by Shawn Hartje.
What is Pipeliner about?
Set in 1993 Idaho, Pipeliner follows seventeen-year-old Jason Krabb as he tries to win over a girl connected to a pipeline construction crew working the high desert. Blending grunge-era coming-of-age romance with his parents’ own perspectives on the events, the story is a laugh-out-loud, heartfelt look at fitting in, first love, and growing up in the early ‘90s.
Coming-of-Age · Literary Fiction · Dark Humour · Heartfelt
Author: Shawn Hartje
Narrator: Theo Polo
Publisher: Helen Springs Press
Released: 2025 · Runtime: 9 hr 37 min
Pipeliner: A 90s Love Story is set in 1993 Idaho and follows seventeen-year-old Jason Krabb as he tries to win over a girl connected to a pipeline construction crew working the high desert. Blending grunge-era coming-of-age romance with his parents’ own perspectives on the events, the story is a laugh-out-loud, heartfelt look at fitting in, first love, and growing up in the early ‘90s.
Behind the Narration
Pipeliner was uniquely challenging for a few reasons. It’s a romance-adjacent story with two teens as primary protagonists, as well as many other young supporting characters. Coming-of-age audiobook narration required up-pitching the vocal register to achieve younger, age-appropriate voicing and female characters, and a lot of back-and-forth male to female, with both casual and drama-style dialogue. The concert scene towards the end of the book is a great example, as singing in audiobooks is always a bit of a gamble. It also required blending ambient sound effects (echo/reverb) and alternating third-person narration with full vocal performance.
Can an audiobook narrator perform songs or sound effects? Sure, it’s a creative liberty that’s granted on a case-by-case basis by the author.
Perhaps the most unique part was that I didn’t have a melody — the author gave me some general direction on his music preferences, but I had to invent the song styles and harmonies myself.
🎧 Hear a sample (author permission pending) — a short excerpt from the concert scene, once cleared with the author.
Considering narration for your own book? Get in touch.