The Mine by John A. Heldt

In “The Mine,” Joel Smith enters an abandoned Montana mine shaft in the year 2000 and ends up in 1941, six months before the start of World War II. Finding himself stuck in the past, he travels back to his hometown of Seattle and tries to make a new life. The action starts off slowly but it picks up toward the end. I particularly enjoyed the climax of the story where Joel has to face the difficult choice of keeping what he has built in 1941 or possibly returning to his own time. Mr. Heldt also paints a lovely picture of the Pacific Northwest and the surrounding scenery. My one complaint would be that, at times, the writing felt anachronistic, which drew me out of the story. I will admit that I probably would not have picked up this book left to my own devices, but, overall, the story was satisfactory.

*Disclosure: I was provided a free copy of this novel with a request for an honest review.*