Review: A Solid Hit, But Not a Home Run
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2012
This was a good time travel story (though I'm left wondering about one person's trip).  Well-defined characters, authentic 1941 setting (for the most part), well plotted, easy flow to the reading.  I'm looking forward to reading more from Heldt.Other reviewers have mentioned how the author will have the main character refer to a group of people by a descriptive phrase and how that can be confusing.  Also the sometimes rapid shift in POV.I was alive and well in 1941 and I have a some minor concerns about the level of authenticity.  Had a person in that year been offered something to drink and replied with, "I'm good," he would have been met with startlement and probably would have had to explain what he meant.  The same goes for "blown it."Also, no middle class American wore jeans except for yard work or horseback riding. Definitely not for a date or a casual outing. They were considered blue collar work clothes.In general the narrative voice was good, as were the group conversations and the men's talk among themselves. The girl talk was awkward.  No one would have talked about sanitary pads (or sanitary napkins, as they were called then). The conversations among the girls seemed stilted to me.And just a quick note to mention that some words were used incorrectly (some homonyms):  affect, banished, reigns, flash, averted. The book was wonderfully clean of typos and grammatical errors, making reading even more pleasant.If you know the economic privations and civil rights wrongs suffered by Japanese Americans in 1942, you'll understand the gift. Joel knew what was coming, though he couldn't come right out and say so.Recommended reading for science fiction, adventure fans. I really liked it.