Grieving the loss of their grandfather, Rory, who had raised them following their parents’ death eight years earlier, twenty-two-year-old Noah Maclean and younger brother, Jake, are stunned to discover the family secret, a stone shed that enables time travel.
The siblings decide to take a trip to 1776, a defining year in American history, before returning to 2024 and destroying the shed, which is beginning to prove a curse rather than a blessing.
But Noah and Jake quickly settle into the eighteenth century and are welcomed into the employment and home of Samuel Ward, a furniture maker with two daughters…
The Patriots is the opening novel in Heldt’s new time-traveling collection. Having read the last two series, I did wonder if the premise would grow stale, but not at all. There is fresh invigoration to The Patriots and several subtle yet fundamental differences to the earlier books.
Heldt’s prose is leaner, and his storyline is more condensed and concentrated, which mirrors his cast. Although Noah and Jake become absorbed into the Ward family and life in 1770s Philadelphia, it is their novel, and Heldt keeps a tight focus on the brothers’ emotional development and personal experiences.
Noah is a measured, mature young man who hides his vulnerabilities behind a relaxed, confident exterior. Fifteen-year-old Jake is understandably withdrawn and insecure at the beginning of The Patriots. There is a slight friction in the brothers’ relationship, which provokes Jake to make a couple of rash, dangerous decisions. It will be interesting to see if this occasional frustration affects further narratives.
Heldt is masterful at explaining the mechanics of the time-traveling shed simply yet convincingly. He has a real knack for making everything seem utterly normal and entirely plausible. Despite the possible genre pitfalls, The Patriots never reads far-fetched or ridiculous.
Heldt’s research into the era of the American Revolution is meticulous and absorbing, covering everything from the broad brush of political power play to the minutia of everyday life. It’s thoroughly immersive; once again, Heldt effortlessly captures the spirit of an age in all its depth and virtuosity.
The period is ostensibly viewed through the lens of the Ward family; most events affect the family and, consequently, Noah and Jake despite their foreknowledge.
As usual, the narrative is sprinkled with a few famous historical personalities. However, Heldt is always careful never to overdo their involvement, mindful of the seismic ripple effect that could ensue and derail what is a tightly plotted novel.
Nonetheless, Heldt uses the volatility of the age and its people to throw Noah and Jake a steady stream of unforeseen challenges and conflicts, which both attempt to process before reacting to, often in surprising ways.
Steady and dependent, Samuel Ward is a well-rounded personality who gives the Macleans decisive opportunities. Wife Elizabeth is a comforting stock maternal figure, but her forward-thinking drives a couple of pivotal plot turns.
Their daughters, Abigail and Rachel, are central, however. Both are beguiling, intriguing, and spirited, but in differing ways, and Heldt portrays them with vibrancy and individuality. Occasionally, Rachel presents older than her years, but both girls follow an engaging, convincing trajectory that evolves believably.
Although there are reassuring areas of expected plot development, Heldt peppers the storyline with considered unpredictability, especially toward the end, where he makes a bold, brutal narrative decision that has immediate consequences and, the reader suspects, repercussions that will reach into further books.
The brothers’ remaining family, in past and present, Lachlan, Douglas, and Donna, are nicely developed and utilized well. The shed and its implications require utmost trust between the relatives, and Heldt sprinkles a few, albeit almost imperceptible seeds of discord.
The Patriots is pacey, and Heldt keeps his familiar short chapter structure and multi-third-person perspective, ensuring momentum is maintained and interest fully engaged.
Heldt successfully opens his Stone Shed series with a vivid and entertaining narrative that grips, twists, and guarantees another time-traveling winner from Heldt.
