Review: Several genres rolled in to one great novel!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 15, 2014
A Bit of Sci Fi, a bit of time travel, and a bit of romance all add up to one amazing book adventure.I am still experiencing that book hangover you get when you finish one of those books that just meets every single need you have in a book. I finished The Mine by John A. Heldt a few days ago and I am still in awe of the writing, the detail, the characters and the flawless ending. This book raised the bar for me. I have always loved time travel books but have always felt they lacked something. Since we know time travel is impossible, it makes it hard for the writer to convince us of this alternate world. However, "The Mine" was my convincer.Joel Smith is a cocky young man who, along with his best friend, decides to travel to Montana days before his graduation from college. When they come across an abandoned mine, Joel's curiosity gets the better of him and he decides to do a bit of exploring. After a freak occurrence, Joel finds himself in 1941.With no way of getting back home any time soon, and with the help of his grandmother and her friends, he begins to make a new life for himself. When an opportunity to return to 2000 occurs, will he go? Or will he stay with the woman he has come to love?This is a book that will stay with me for a long time. I felt connected to Joel and his struggles to make himself at home in a decade he knew only from history books. He had none of the conveniences he had grown to love. He had no technology. No cell phone. No family. No way back to his home. In a way, this was a good thing for the cocky young man. Would you appreciate your life more if you were no longer living it? This book brings a lesson in my opinion. Joel had to find a way to go on living and fit in to a time of impending war. Some events that happened he was already aware of but he couldn't stop them. Such a well written novel, the author effortlessly showsus what Joel goes through and what others around him go through as they learn to know him and love him."The Mine" took me on time travel journey so magnificent that I will not soon forget. I would recommend this book to any fantasy, romance fans. A definite stand out in story, and romance.