Book Review: The Fire, John A. Heldt, Northwest Passage Book 4

The Fire, John A. Heldt, Northwest Passage Book 4

Summary from Amazon.com

“When Kevin Johnson, 22, goes to Wallace, Idaho, days after his college graduation, he expects to find rest and relaxation as his family prepares his deceased grandfather’s house for sale. Then he discovers a hidden diary and a time portal that can take him to 1910, the year of Halley’s comet and the largest wildfire in U.S. history. Within hours, Kevin finds himself in the era of horse-drawn wagons, straw hats, and ankle-length dresses. Traveling repeatedly to the same time and place, he decides to make the portal his gateway to summer fun. The adventure takes a more serious turn, however, when the luckless-in-love science major falls for pretty English teacher Sarah Thompson and integrates himself in a community headed for disaster. Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, THE FIRE, the sequel to THE JOURNEY, follows a conflicted soul through a life-changing journey as he makes his mark on a world he was never meant to see.”

They say some things run in the family; i.e. blond hair, blue eyes, height, alcoholism, etc. but never in a million years did I guess that time travel could as well!  When Michelle from The Journey took an accidental trip back in time to 1971 she altered history enough that instead of a loveless marriage to a controlling man, she instead married her best friend and went on to have two children, Kevin her oldest and his sister Irene.  I am guessing that Kevin never once expected to follow in his mother’s footsteps through a journey that was something out of science fiction when he found his Great Uncle Asa’s journal and money under the floorboard of the guest room he was staying in.

When this one seemingly innocent discovery takes Kevin to a time and place he never once imagined, it turns him and Wallace on its literal head! He finds himself immersed in Victorian society and a community on the verge of a literal disaster.  His first encounter with a local is with Andy O’Connell, editor in chief of the local newspaper who introduces him to his land lord Maude Duvalier, a wealthy widower that takes in boarders.  During a night on the town he meets Sadie Hawkins, a young woman down on her luck financially indebted to the most powerful man in town Preston Pierce.  Kevin rescue’s her from her situation and introduces her to Maude, giving her a new change and lease on life! While in Wallace, he gains employment as a teacher at the local high school where he meets and falls in love with the new English and Literature teacher, Sarah Thompson.  While on this journey Kevin has to make some hard decisions – does he say something to alter the past enough that it saves this community and those he’s come to think of as his second family? Or does he allow fate to play out?

The Fire is the fourth in John Heldt’s Northwest Passage series and it will literally pull at your heartstrings as you, the reader, are pulled into this world of time travel, life lessons, love and the consequences of such journeys.  This like the other three captured me from the moment I opened the book, wanting to be lost in the pages of this amazing read I cannot speak highly enough of this series and this book. The detail and development of the story allowed the reader to get to know Wallace, Idaho of 1910 as much as Kevin did on this journey, we could picture ever detail and almost relish the ups and downs as he moved through his day-to-day life.  As a reader we also grow with Kevin as he learns to be a young man coming into his own, the internal battle he wages as his heart pulls him in two separate direction –Sadie and Sarah.

Five out of Five Stars for The Fire.

**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review**

Get your copy of this book from Amazon.com

Connect with John Heldt at his Blog here