Class of '59

American Journey, Book 4

De: John A. Heldt

Narrado por: Patrice Gambardella

When Mary Beth McIntire settles into a vacation house on June 2, 2017, she anticipates a quiet morning with coffee. Then she hears a noise, peers out a window, and spots a man in 1950s attire standing in the backyard. She panics when the trespasser sees her and enters the house though a door to the basement. She questions her sanity when she cannot find him.

In the same house on March 21, 1959, Mark Ryan finds a letter. Written by the mansion's original owner in 1900, the letter describes a basement chamber, mysterious crystals, and a formula for time travel. Driven by curiosity, Mark tests the formula twice. On his second trip to 2017, he encounters a beautiful stranger. He meets the woman in the window.

Within hours, Mary Beth and Mark share their secret with her sister and his brother and begin a journey that takes them from the present day to the age of sock hops, drive-ins, and jukeboxes. In Class of '59, the fourth book in the American Journey series, four young adults find love, danger, and adventure as they navigate the corridors of time and experience Southern California in its storied prime.

©2016 John A. Heldt (P)2017 John A. Heldt

This book was not for me

Any additional comments?

It was a real chore to get through this book. This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

What not to do when travelling back in time

When two young men from 1959 find a portal to 2017 they strike up friendships from a couple of young ladies from the "future". The couples travel back and forth between the two time periods (although spending most of their time in 1959) and start to fall in love. Can they make this work, when they belong to completely different times?

Despite this being book 4 in the series, I haven't read any of the others. i didn't even know it was in a series when I first got it. There doesn't appear to be a need to have read the others to get this. Maybe there are winks and nods to the other books that I missed, but this book stands on it's own.

Young adult romance is generally not my thing, but the time travel element make me interested enough to pick it up. Sadly I don't feel like that element was used to its best effect.

The majority of the tension of the book comes from this relationship and how, or even if, they can work out how to make relationships work when there is 60 years between their lives. The 'time travel' is really a MacGuffin for the romance, and way to have them drawn apart. The same effect could have been done with having them have lives on the opposite sides of the world, without time travel. But the time travel does have the ability to add a nice twist to it. Sadly I felt there wasn't enough "fish out of water" type stuff with the time travel. There was bits to do with how the '59ers felt about 2017 and vice versa, but it didn't really show it much. Also the 1959 world didn't feel overly different to now. Sure there were changes and differences, but 90% of the conversation, the events etc felt like they were time-neutral. They could have happened in most eras since the 60's and weren't 1959 specific in any way.

Also, when it comes to time travel maybe I've just read too many time travel books or seen too many time travel movies and just know better but the girls from 2017 travelling back in time do some really stupid movies that draw them into danger. So a few things not to do if you discover a portal back 60 years in time:

- don't draw attention to yourself by putting down giant bets
- dont place bets in places that are clearly mobbed up.
- don't leave paper that basically says "I'm from the future" lying around in a place where someone from the mob can find.
- don't flout your money in front of everyone (she is continually handing out $5 notes, which is like someone in 2017 handing out $50's to everyone)

Obviously, all these mistakes draw unwanted attention, which becomes the B-story of the book, which eventually dove tails with the A-story romance. I felt this part of the story was somewhat undercooked.

I will say this though... I don't think I have written a review this long in a while. That says that for all it's faults this book did really engage me.

Narration by Patrice Gambardella was good. Well paced and clear, she provided voices and accents. As some of the characters came from various parts of the USA she gave them corresponding accents to match that. It was an enjoyable and engaging narration.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

A unexpected surprise.

Audio version.
This is the first time I've read/listened by John Heldt. It won't be the last enjoyed this very much. This may be part of a series, but this can stand alone.
The narrator brought the story to life.
This Audiobook was given to me for free at my request from the publisher, author or narrator and I provided this unbiased voluntary review.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Action-packed, Easy-to-read, Entertaining, Great world building Happily Ever After, Original, Page-turner, Romantic, Unpredictable, Whimsical, Witty, Wonderful characters.

Changing Times

I really enjoyed this time travel tale. It was mysterious and loving while keeping my attention. I know myself, I have definitely had that time that I wish I could go back, or better yet forward to see what the future holds. The characters in this story had that chance. 2017 is quite different from 1959 and the author does a great job showing this because there were no cell phones or internet. However, what the author does quite well is show us how these times can also be somewhat the same. Young love has always been there. A mysterious note and a choice to follow the instructions... are you hooked yet? Definitely give this one a try, I was hesitant but it will either be a trip back in time for some, or a history lesson of what life was like. The performance was done well and helped bring the author's words to life. This was my first performance by this narrator and I would definitely try another title performed by her. Her tone was good and helped give the scene just a little something. This story made me curious to what my life would have looked like in 1959. I was provided a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review via Audiobook Boom. This in no way affected my opinionof this audiobook.

Good storyline

Didn't care for the narrator BORR-ing! She made it a struggle to get through what I knew would be a great story. This narrator would best read children's stories.