The Patriots (Stone Shed Trilogy 1) by John A. Heldt-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 25, 2024

From the author of the critically acclaimed Second Chance series comes the first book in the Stone Shed saga.

When Noah Maclean, 22, races home from Europe, he finds a dying grandfather, a hidden letter, and a family secret that dates to the 1740s. He learns he is the keeper of a stone shed that can send people through time.

Within weeks, Noah and his brother, Jake, 15, test their inheritance. They travel to 1776 to see Philadelphia in the age of Benjamin Franklin, the Declaration of Independence, and the American Revolution.

Expecting to return within weeks, the orphaned brothers make the most of their field trip through history. Then they meet the lovely daughters of a furniture maker, and a pleasant adventure becomes a transformative journey.

Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, THE PATRIOTS follows two lost souls through a critical moment in time as they adjust to new surroundings and wrestle with knowledge of things to come.

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REVIEW: THE PATRIOTS by John A Heldt is the first instalment in John A Heldt’s adult STONE SHED SAGA historical, time travel trilogy focusing on twenty-two year old Noah Maclean, and his fifteen year old brother Jake.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives including Jake and Noah THE PATRIOTS follows Noah and Jake Maclean in the aftermath of their grandfather’s death in 2024. A letter, a stone shed, and a portal through time finds the brothers journeying to Philadelphia in 1776 wherein the American Revolution is in full swing, and the brothers are about to change a little bit of history for love and heart. Finding jobs and falling in love means leaving a piece of themselves behind but a couple of trips into the future will reveal the truth to two young woman whose lives will be changed forever.

Like Star Trek’s ‘prime directive’, the Maclean brothers are not to interfere or change history but their brother’s contemporary knowledge of history and medicine means aiding and assisting when lives are in trouble.

Throughout the story line, the brothers will meet or watch history unfold: from an influenza epidemic, to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, to George Washington and Lafayette, the Maclean brothers travel through time wlll be noted in history by the changes they wrought, much to the chagrin of the people they left behind. But to save the young woman with whom they are falling in love, the truth is revealed, as the British soldiers marched toward their targets.

We are introduced to several historical figures, as well as Noah and Jake’s Uncle Doug and Aunt Donna ; Uncle Lachlan; sisters Abigail and Rachel Ward, as well as their parents Sam and Elizabeth, soldier Colin Richards, and house servants Sarah, Flora and Fauna Jones.

THE PATRIOTS is a time travel story, using both fictional and factual accounts of the time periods visited, with elements of romance, family, relationships and love. The premise is intriguing and entertaining;the characters are charismatic and charming; the romance is subtle. THE PATRIOTS ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy