River Rising (Carson Chronicles #1) by John A Heldt-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 20, 2017

Weeks after his parents disappear on a hike, engineer Adam Carson, 27, searches for answers. Then he discovers a secret web site and learns his mom and dad are time travelers stuck in the past. Armed with the information he needs to find them, Adam convinces his younger siblings to join him on a rescue mission to the 1880s.

While Greg, the adventurous middle brother, follows leads in the Wild West, Adam, journalist Natalie, and high school seniors Cody and Caitlin do the same in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Like the residents of the bustling steel community, all are unaware of a flood that will destroy the city on May 31, 1889.

In RIVER RISING, the first novel in the Carson Chronicles series, five young adults find love, danger, and adventure as they experience America in the age of bustle dresses, gunslingers, and robber barons.

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REVIEW: 5 out of 5 for this reader folks!

HAPPY READER ALERT! John A. Heldt has a new series and I think it just may be my favourite one yet. This was a FANTASTIC book! 🙂

River Rising by John A. Heldt is the first book of his “Carson Chronicles” series. A time travel story that takes us back to the 1880’s, you will experience a story rich in true history, mystery, on the edge of your seat suspense, romance, some humour, serious devastation and some fantastic characters that you will absolutely fall in love with. So yes, pretty much EVERYTHING!

Adam Carson is the oldest sibling of 5 and has taken on the responsibility as head of his family when his time travelling parents have become stuck in the past. After convincing his siblings to venture back in time with him to find them, they all begin to realize that they have bitten off more than they can chew .. and now have to struggle in a time when life offered no electronics for communication, was ridden with danger and a looming disaster so great it wiped out generations.

The siblings do split up and I loved that we get to experience time travel in different parts of the country, which offers different obstacles, and new experience for the reader to enjoy. There is “The Great Flood” of 1889 looming and it’s so sad that our smart siblings had no clue it was coming. This is different from most of John’s previous stories as his time travellers always had a strong researched sense of what they would be travelling back to. This was not the case for the Carson siblings and they experienced this flood true to time, as so many did. I have to say, I had a box of tissue at the ready for this part of the book, it was really intense.

There is so much more to this story, but my goodness, I have come to know that when I pick up a John A. Heldt book, I am in for a ride. This was no exception and to be honest I think this just may be my fave of his yet. This long read had a different feel than his previous books and I think it has to do with the urgency to travel back and not being completely prepared for what the past had to offer. There was a naive feel to it in some ways.

John is the master of character development and choosing the right words in the right way to make his reader feel like we are completely immersed in his story. Vivid images always came to mind, and well researched aspects of the 1880’s made the story feel so very authentic. I am a history lover so I truely appreciate it when an author does their homework.

SO SO HAPPY you are back John and I am SO SO looking forward to your next book. You never disappoint!

If you love the time travel, love the adventure, love the history and love the feels, then you will LOVE this book.

HAPPY READING! 🙂

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Rachel t.

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John A. Heldt is the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage and American Journey series. The former reference librarian and award-winning sportswriter has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, Heldt is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life at johnheldt.blogspot.com.