The Mine by John A. Heldt

(Image found on Goodreads)

"The man without a plan continued his journey down the rural route." -John A. Heldt, The Mine

College senior, Joel Smith enters a mine in 2000 while a rare occurrence took place. And he emerges into a new world. Or maybe not a new world, but an old one. Joel finds himself back in 1941 with no idea how to get back and a determination to not change a thing. But can he keep to his promise when a certain young woman catches his eye? Or will he change the whole world? Find the official description on Goodreads.

This was a great book! I loved reading it and I was entranced by it. I found myself putting down my notes just to see what was going on in The Mine. John A. Heldt has created a book that catches readers and draws them into the story.

I'm not a big fan of historical novels (even though I like the subject? I'm not sure how that works). But I actually enjoyed the new look into the 1940's. While history books lay out the facts of that time period, they can't bring it to life as John A. Heldt has done in The Mine. He gives great descriptions of the time period and gets the reader interested in the time period. Even when they know what is coming. 

Then there was Joel. At first he seems more like a young child or teenager than a grown man. But throughout the book, you see him grow up a little and make some tough decisions that he may not have made earlier. It was a captivating journey. 

The one thing I had a problem with is that Joel doesn't seem to think about home or finding a way to get home until the option is placed in front of him. I can understand that when he was struggling to find a way to make a living that he was distracted but afterwards it doesn't seem to cross his mind that he might be able to return home and he's not searching for a way back. But that was the only thing that I really came across that made me feel a little out of sync with Joel as a character.

Then there was the ending. I honestly didn't expect what happened to happen. It was shocking but at the same time I was overjoyed! So it made all the emotions that had tumbled through me while I was reading it worth it.

Even if you're not interested in historical romances, this book was very interesting and brings the turbulent 1940's to life. Have you read The Mine yet? Did you enjoy it? What do you think about novels that include time travel?