The Mine

In May 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that  will alter their lives forever. THE MINE follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

*May Contain Spoilers*

John Heldt takes readers back to a time in which World War II looms overhead with his time traveling novel, The Mine. Joel Smith never imagined that when the planets aligned it would create a path into the past, nor that he would be the one to stumble upon it. 

Joel Smith is the main character of this novel. A young man, about to graduate from college with a geology degree, who is over-the-top arrogant on the outside but has a hidden charm that readers will enjoy. His tongue is sharp with wit and he has a certain knack for causing trouble. Readers will connect with him based on the serious contemplations he keeps secret and love him for his live-for-the-moment attitude coupled with his need to keep others around him happy. 

The plot of The Mine focuses on Joel and how he discovers an abandoned mine the same day the planets are aligning, creating an escape to 1941. With war on the horizon, Joel becomes friends with a drafted man, his future grandmother, a Japanese-American, and a young college coed that steals his heart. He lives in the year of Pearl Harbor for six months wondering if he will ever return to his present or continue on in the past. The hardest question being whether he'll want to return or not.

Rating: 3/5 Cups