The Mine by John A. Heldt

Title: The Mine 
Author: John A. Heldt 
Pages: ?? 
Published: December 6th, 2013 
Genre: Historical Fiction
In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts towards war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. but when an opportunity comes to return to the present. Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come. 

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The action was immediate in this book! I feel like people haven't been paying enough attention to these lesser known authors. I'm glad that I read this book right after reading Time's Edge by Rysa Walker. It really got me thinking about the way these historical fiction writers write about time traveling. Although I like the plot of Time's Edge far more than The Mine, I can't help but conclude that John A. Heldt did a better job in executing the aspect of time travel.

The book starts off with Joel and his friend Adam eating at a local bar/restaurant. They take a drive but then stop at this Gold Mine, that's been abandoned for quite a while and mysterious things have been happening. Even with Adam's warnings, Joel decides to take a look for himself. It's not until he sees a snake, falls into some sort of portal, and wakes up in another time period does he begin to realize that this was all probably a bad idea and that he probably should have listened to Adam. From there, we are following Joel as he finds a way to get back to the year 2000!

The chapters in this book are very short. The story is light-weight and fast paced, one of the main reasons I liked the book. It was fairly easy to get into right away! Joel, the main character, was a witty and humorous protagonist. There was not a single dry moment when Joel was speaking! He was described in the book as a very handsome and just brooding man.

The conflict was probably my favorite aspect of the book. As Joel is stuck in the year 1941 he is granted a lot of opportunities that kind of sway his decision to stay rather than going back to the year 2000. He met Tom, who was kind of like a best friend and Grace, who took his breath away. I enjoyed how the author simply drove the plot from beginning to end without the cramming of too much historical information. After all this is a historical fiction book.

The Mine is a tale of forbidden romance infused with a historical time-traveling backdrop. I couldn't have enjoyed this book more than I do! Now when I say historical, I don't mean the confusing historical fictions that just state historical facts. This book had the perfect balance of story and facts, which made it all the more interesting. There was a slight amount of background information leading up to the events that really cleared some of the foggy parts up. Let's just say this book brought me to tears. The beauty. The story. I could not have asked for a better book from a review request!


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4 comments

  1. Sounds like a great read. Awesome review! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review! I love me some historical fiction, is one of my favourite genres but when it's doen nicely. Not just stating historical facts as you said and adding nothing to the plot because that's the beauty of historical fiction. The historical background but an unknown story. This looks like a nice read =)

    Noelia @ A Day In Bookland

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