The Mine by John A. Heldt

Genre: Time-Travel, Fiction

Pages: 291

Publication Date: December 6th 2013 by John A. Heldt

Synopsis:

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 toward 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.

My Thoughts

Time travel is hit or miss for me, it’s never been one of those branches of fantasy that has pulled me in, but I had the opportunity to read this and it intrigued me.

Joel Smith is a twenty-two year old in 2000, fairly care free, reckless and a leap before thinking kind of guy. So when he ventures off with his buddy Adam to an abandoned mine on a day unlike any other [six planets are in alignment, spooky!] He finds himself stepping through some kind of barrier that leads him into May of 1941. He’s dumped in the past with nothing to his name and no way to return to present time.

I enjoy the depiction of the 40’s, it’s not an era I typically read but I enjoyed the easiness of it, the way I could feel as if I was in that time. Joel found himself pressed to find a way to make a living, with nothing to his name and no way of paying for housing or even food he was even reduced to garbage picking, but he found his way and met the onslaught of main characters. Each one had a personality of their own, their own backstory.

Joel grew as a character but stayed true to who he was, which I enjoyed immensely. He touched the lives of others and felt them affecting his life and heart as well, but he was also faced with the difficult decision and the knowledge that he would have to leave and return to present time. He knew that while he was there he mucked things up but would he do the right thing in the end? He had some pretty hard choices to make!

There was really only one thing that bothered me, it was that although I enjoyed the characters I found myself lacking a connection to them. Which made delving into the book trying at times.

My favorite – and a shocker for me was the end, which was a perfect ending in my mind. This was a fun book to read, though.