Review: An Amazing Third Book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2013
[Full disclosure: John Heldt sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]I'm so glad that John Heldt decided to return to the story of The Mine to continue where he left off.  Only this time, we get to see things from Grace's point of view and learn how she found her way back to Joel when he fled back to his own time.  Then, just when everything seems to be going well, tragedy strikes and Grace is thrust back into 1918.  This is where things get interesting character-wise because we learn just how resourceful and intelligent Grace really is as she struggles to cope in another new time.  We also learn a little more about how the time travel portals work, although John Heldt never gets into the scientific details.  But that doesn't bother me one bit because the Northwest Passage Series is meant to explore the effects of time travel on people, not how time travel is accomplished.The plot isn't what I would call fast-paced until the last 30 pages, but John Heldt's writing style is so nice that it didn't bother me at all.  Grace drives the plot forward with her actions rather than just reacting to events and it makes for a much more human novel.  We feel her anguish at leaving the love of her life and her two children behind, experience her struggle to adapt to a completely different time and feel her confusion about the handsome war hero John Walker.  The secondary characters aren't just two dimensional either; they all have distinct personalities, backstories and react to Grace differently.The ending felt rather rushed after the steady pace of the first 150 pages, but I suppose it reflects the desperation Grace began to feel as her ability to go back to 2000 was about to be cut off.  Still, The Show was a great addition to the story of The Mine and I look forward to reading the rest of the Northwest Passage series.I give this book 5/5 stars.