River Rising

Carson Chronicles, Book 1

By: John A. Heldt

Narrated by: Chaz Allen

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Weeks after his parents disappear on a hike, engineer Adam Carson, 27, searches for answers. Then he discovers a secret website 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.

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

How Long Can You Tread Water?

I said to my spouse "Johnstown flood" and received the response "1889." How is it that well-educated people embark on time travel and somehow are ignorant of such a major event? But taking into account the surprising gaps in knowledge in today's youngsters, I will let that obvious oversight slide since had they known there'd be no story.

This is a fully-fleshed time-travel journey which takes you across the growing country from "the territories" to the sophisticated east coast and then back to the west and pre-earthquake San Francisco. You can imagine yourself trying to adjust to the myriad inconveniences ranging from modes of dress and travel to lack of rapid communication. I, myself, could not be happy without modern plumbing and would certainly miss the convenience of listening to audio books and instantly obtaining information on anything which catches my attention.

Complex and well-plotted (caveat notwithstanding); I fully enjoyed this first adventure of the Carson siblings.

Strong Characters and Good History Details.

I enjoyed this time travel adventure. Mr. Hedlt creates engaging characters and situations.

Adam Carson and his four siblings have lost their parents. Months after they are buried Adam gets a package from the family lawyer that reveals a remarkable secret. Their parents might not be dead because they have apparently traveled back in time. Adam presents the proposal to his brothers and sisters: stay without their parents or travel back in time to find them? The children agree to leave their world in 2017 to go to 1880 to find their parents.

The story follows the youths as they adjust to a past without cars, phones, computers or the many other modern conveniences they are accustomed to. Greg takes the train to the West, Arizona and California, running into a bit of frontier trouble. The rest of the family is in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a growing town where some find work, they all make friends and even a couple find romance. They become nicely involved in the community even as they watch the date for their return to 2017. However, they don’t realize they are in the path of a rising flood.

I thoroughly enjoyed the history as well as the story line. Heldt develops the characters of each of the siblings, who are good people, who have growing friendships. I enjoyed the gentle romances, the strength of Natalie’s character, and the excitement and danger that Greg faces. It was also fun to have Samuel Clemens as a brief character.

I have read early books that involved the parents’ time travels. Those explained the time mechanism where this book totally skimmed that which could be a hole for readers who weren’t familiar with the prior works. It was also unclear to me why the parents missed their timely return and the children arrived somewhere they didn’t expect to be. (Maybe it was there, and I missed it in the audio.)

I appreciate the warm characters and the imaginative and engaging story which are consistent with Mr. Heldt’s writings. I also liked how the story is told in different chapters from the view of the siblings. This story has an ending but it is not the end of the journey. I recommend the story to fans of time travel and also to those who like strong sibling adventure, historical details and clean romance.

Audio Notes: Chaz Allen takes a little bit of getting used to. He doesn’t really give a distinct voice to each character. However, his direct presentation with just a touch of a slow drawl, seems to fit the story, especially the historic settings. I was glad to listen to this in audio as it is a longer book than I normally pick up.

I received this audio book from the author for an honest review.

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Loved it. I was glad I did not know the exact date for this disaster. grEat descriptions of enduring a flood.

good book..bad narrator

the narrator was not great. there were several time I contemplated not finishing the book because of his reading style

Got lost in the story

I received this as a free audio book from the author in exchange for an unbiased review.

Based on how this book ends, this is the beginning of a series in which the books are directly related to each other and must be read in order.
We are back with the author in another time travel line, which he writes so well. This one tracks five siblings as they follow their parents through a portal back to 1889. As soon as the name Johnstown, Pennsylvania was mentioned I immediately thought of the Johnstown flood. Because of this mental connection, I was shocked when the well educated siblings did not realize they were in danger. It bothered me enough to ask my family and some friends (who grew up in other parts of the country) what the town name made them think of. Among the group of 15 or so people, all age ranges, only one other person connected Johnstown with the flood. That amazed me enough to let it go and let myself get lost in the story. Once I did that, I got so involved with the characters that I was flat out crying at different points in the story.
It is very well written and entertaining. I am looking forward to the next in the series. Thank you John!

Narrator needs help

I like the story. The narrator needs lessons to improve. He reads like he is in a hurry to finish. There aren’t pauses when there should be and inflections. I will not listen to another story narrated by Chaz Allen.

Hate cliffhangers!

The Narrator was Excellent! He gave depth and excitement throughout the book.

Unfortunately, the author apparently didn’t have enough faith in his story and used a Cliffhanger to get his readers to return! A sure way to get this one Never to return! Anyone want an audiobook?

Worst narrated I ever heard

It was hard to understand what characters were talking because of the lowest quality narrated I ever heard Don’t waste your credit

FANTASTIC HISTORICAL TIME TRAVEL TALE

I found this audiobook very interesting, full of time travel, adventure, and intrigue.

It didn't matter to me that this first book ended with a cliffhanger, because I just went right ahead and listened to the next one in the series! Yes, I'm spoiled in that way haha :)

This time-travel adventure follows the Carson family, Adam and his many siblings have lost their parents - not to death, as they had thought. A secret reveals that the Carson parents are time travelers are now in another time/place.
Imagine going from 2017 waaaaaaaay back to 1880? Sounds crazy, right? No iPhones, no laptops, no CABLE (I was born in 1968, so I can actually remember being alive in a time when we had none of those things! And, we managed just fine lol).....

So off they go to find their parents, and encounter all kinds of danger and intrigue - one to the old west, and the others to Johnstown, PA right in time for the horrific flood!

This is a very exciting, thrilling and fun adventure. I really enjoyed listening to it, and I'm now on to book #2 in the series (The Memory Tree), and suggest you do the same! :) :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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Good Story Bad Ending

I got this story via audiobook boom and this is my voluntary review. This was a good story but a bad ending. More than 13 hours and a cliffhanger wow. Who writes a story that long and filled with plot twists and adventure but ends it with a cliffhanger. I was into the story and was so disappointed. I understand why the kids would not concentrate on the flood since they were looking for their parents. Also not being concerned about changing history we have to understand that time travel no matter what is going to change something. Even if you only show yourself to one person that one person will be changed. So recognizing that this is a story it's ok. What is not ok is to provide me with a good story then no end.