The Mirror

John A. Heldt gave me an e-copy of The Mirror because I enjoyed The Mine  and The Show so much.
He did not ask for a review, but I'm going to anyway.

John Heldt immediately joined my list of Indie authors who deserve more attention by publishing houses when I had the pleasure of reading his first book in the series, The Mine . Another of those authors who make me glad I was introduced to indie books.

Kind of bittersweet today, The Mirror is the fifth and last installment (as far as I know), in the Northwest Passage Series. I purposely waited a while to read this book because it is also the only book by Mr. Heldt that I had not yet read. I knew it would be good so I wanted to tease myself. By the way, I was right, The Mirror is great!

The Mirror is a fantastic finale to the series. Any member of the series' Smith family, you have to wonder when it will be your turn for a trip through time. Heldt always pleases. Although the series follows some of the same characters through the series, he gives us new settings and situations that keep the story fresh. My favorite character throughout the series has been Grace Vandenberg (now Smith).

Heldt is such a great story teller and with The Mirror he only solidifies my opinion. The story becomes a multi-generational adventure for twin sisters Ginny and Katie Smith (yeah Those Smiths). We also get a bit of reincarnation added to the mix this time (time, get it? Ok, sorry).

The Mirror twists the story by starting in the future (very near future) and traveling past us to the 60's. Yes, I was there and I do remember them. As I have come to expect from John Heldt, I got a heart-warming tale with humor, heartbreak, history, tragedy, love and romance. It was fun to revisit a time on the cusp of cultural change. The sexual revolution had not yet started, but our time-travelers come from a more relaxed time. There is more sex in this book (again reflecting the time setting), but it is tastefully presented.

Because of the time frame of The Mirror, there is also more social commentary. I'll let you find that on your own. As always, Mr. Heldt ties up the loose ends nicely, yet unpredictably, by the end of the book. As I said, bittersweet. It has been so much fun to read this series, I kind of hate to see it end.

Once again I say; If you want a well written, good, fun, clean adventure, The Mirror by John A. Heldt is for you. I highly recommend the whole Northwest Passage Series as well as his newer American Journey Series. 

John A. Heldt is definitely an author to follow. Enjoy!

Mike