Phoenix, Spring 1983. For the Carsons, five siblings from the present day, it has come down to this. Find the parents they have chased through time for more than two years or go home and resume their lives without them.While Adam and Greg remain in Arizona and Natalie searches the country for leads, Cody and Caitlin travel to a summer camp in Maine, where their mother and father met as … counselors. The twins, now 19, hope to intercept the older versions of their parents even as they work beside the younger ones.
All of the Carsons prepare for a reunion that seems inevitable. Then tragedy strikes one family member and seductive strangers pull two others in unhelpful directions as a summer of promise turns into one of uncertainty and sacrifice.
Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, CAMP LAKE, the poignant conclusion of the Carson Chronicles series, follows the lives of several spirited adults as they confront choices and change the era of big hair, space shuttles, and video arcades.
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Heldt’s clear-cut prose and realistic dialogue keep the narrative flowing at a good pace and make me feel for the characters. They are like an extension of my own family that I didn’t know I had and wish I did.
Continuation of a series about a family and trials of time travel. Clean, historical based time periods and enough characters to add variety.
This is the last of a series. You have to read the others first, but this is one author you won’t mind reading through the whole thing!
Loved this series!
This is a great series of time travel books.
The Carson children were back in Arizona. The problem is, it’s 1983 Arizona. They have to get some money first, then they can look for clues to their parents. Each of the Carson children hoped this would be the last stop before they got home. Things are never easy for the Carsons though.
Like a wonderful spring breeze, Mr. Heldt’s books are refreshingly original and exceptionally well written. Mr. Heldt leads you through the book at a steady pace. The characters are easy to care about. Their personalities shine through from beginning to end. Expected surprises happen all through this book as well. He keeps you guessing about where things will go next. I’m not a fan of time travel books but I’m a huge fan of these!
I didn’t find any issues here.
I gave this one 5 cheers out of 5 because it’s a touching story. The author provided a copy of the book and I chose to review it.
Camp Lake by John A. Heldt is the end of my first completed series of Mr. Heldts. We follow the Carson siblings in the final stretch of their time traveling tour to find their parents.
Will Adam, Greg, Natalie, Cody, and Caitlin Carson, with their significant others, find Tim and Caroline Carson?
Adam and Bridget
Adam is the oldest of the Carson clan and one that isn’t all that active in this book. He is holding down the fort with his wife, Bridget, their daughter in Phoenix, Arizona. Adam and Bridget are doing well with the time-traveling even with a fussy infant.
Greg and Patricia
Greg is the second oldest of the Carson clan, and another on that really isn’t active in this book either. Instead of jet setting across the world, Greg is in Phoenix with Adam and his family, helping his wife with their son and niece. He is taking the husband and fatherly duties well, and he cares for his family.
Natalie and Nick
Natalie, the third oldest and first daughter of the Carson clan, is more involved in this book. Nick and Natalie are the ones taking their honeymoon first to visit Colorado to see if Nick’s relatives left anything and then off to find Natalie’s parents wherever they may be. They found out so much throughout the book and kind of helped the family get back together faster. Or at least they tried. Natalie is starting to become a great wife already in the few short chapters that we have, with her being the focal point.
Caitlin and Dennis
Caitlin and Dennis, the young couple that started their romance in 1962, are continuing it in 1983 and beyond. These two are so adorable when they are together. Dennis being the musician and wanting to do everything in his power to make their summer together happen. Caitlin into doing more than what she bargained on doing. The young couple did a lot and are having fun making memories and just being together.
Cody
Now Cody. The black sheep of the family who couldn’t bring any of his three love interests with him to the future since Emma. Cody, just like Caitlin and Dennis, are camp counselors and ended up fixing how their parents met after a little mishap. Along with their summer romance that continued into the next school year. Cody, like before, falls for a girl but is having a harder time letting this one go. I won’t tell you if it sticks this time.
Five Stars
The Carson family adventure in 1983 is the conclusion that everyone following them must-read.
Camp Lake by John A. Heldt is a fantastic book that is hilarious, charming, and sad to read at certain parts. The final book of the Carson Chronicles had some lofty expectations to fill for me, and it met every one of them. The Carson Chronicles is the third series I started of Mr. Heldts but the first that I completed. I am rating it five stars and recommend it to everyone. Mr. Heldt has a marvelous way of weaving the past, present, and future, combined with how the Carsons time traveled in this series is spectacular.
Be on the lookout for Mr. Heldt’s new series coming sometime around April; the first book is called The Lane Betrayal.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Camp Lake by John A. Heldt.
Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
After several failed attempts to catch up with their time traveling parents that involved multiple periods in time, the Carson siblings have one final chance to meet up with their parents and head back to 2017 together. Their adventures were fraught with joy and heartache and oftentimes filled with danger. Let’s hope the ’80s and a summer at Camp Lake where the parents spent as teens themselves is a little less dangerous and a lot more joyful.
Each of the Carson Chronicles has focused on one specific child’s quest to find their happily ever. We follow Cody, who after even more prophetic dreams, meets a potential soulmate in Karen. She’s smart, fun, and sassy, and she’s keeping a secret that might just tear the two of them apart.
I’ve loved reading this series, and Cody’s story is no exception. I loved the camp setting and think it provided a lot of fun opportunities for the twins. I’ve loved how each of the books continues the story forward from multiple perspectives so you never have to let one character go. I think Camp Lake was a bit more stressful to read because you knew this was their last chance to reunite with their parents. I’ve come to love all the Carsons and their spouses and am a bit sad that this is the final book in the series. But I feel Heldt has written the entire collection wonderfully and given them the best sendoff possible. Very well done!
All the Carson series books are wonderful!
Camp Lake is the fifth and final book of the Carson’s Family Chronicles. The ending might be expected, but it is definitely a tear jerker.
The Carson siblings are in Phoenix in 1983 and they are in the last timeframe they believe they will find their parents before the need to go back to the present day with their families. Adam and Greg have remained in Arizona with their families, Natalie is using their scarce resources to search the country for leads and Cosy and Caitlin have travelled to jobs they have secures in a summer camp in Maine, which is where their parents met. Life then gets complicated as tragedy strikes as one of the family is injured trying to prevent a possible drowning of a student at the camp. This is the last cook in the Carson Chronicles series of books detailing their various adventures of the time-travelling siblings – can they find their parents before they have to leave?
Wow – so many events and details in this book. There were constant twists and turns which left you with lots of what-if scenarios, that to be honest I almost never got right! As always the author had done a great deal of background work so that the timelines and events were accurately depicted. I loved the characters who felt real so that I felt quite sad to realise this is the end of the series. Well written and very enjoyable.
I read every single one of the Carson Chronicles (and in order much less). I waited impatiently for the next in the series to be published. This is a time travel saga that should not be missed!
It chronicles the time travels of the 5 Carson siblings as they go on a search for their parents–through time. So much happens within these 5 books to each of the siblings–Love, Marriage, Heartbreak and every other emotion you can think of. They meet people from the past –some not so nice–some wonderful. But they never totally lose hope that they will find their parents. Meanwhile their parents are desperately trying to find them–but they always seem to miss each other.
In this last book of this series, the twins are the focal point–as are the parents (but in their teenage form). All I will say there is a happily ever after for all 5 siblings!
I am so sorry to see this series end–I could keep reading about this family for a very long time!
I received an e-book from the author for my enjoyment and a possible review.
John Heldt – Carson Chronicles Bk 5 – Camp Lake – Reviewed 10/1/19 – Read 9/29-30/19
The time is now and the search is almost over….
The Carson family has been on a search for their parents now for about 2 years jumping from year to year and it looks like they have finally found them. The five siblings and their families have now narrowed it down to the year that their parents met at Camp Lake. While the rest of the family remains in Arizona, Natalie, Cody, and Caitlin are on the search. Cody and Caitlin will go to “Camp Lake” as counselors and Natalie will check other places that their parents visited during that year. Of course, nothing is ever perfect as they have found in their extended search and they are not taking any chances. They have experienced just missed meetings, accidents, romance both happy and sad all giving them a mix of troubles during their travels. But even with that they are all preparing themselves for a long-awaited reunion before their final step back into their own time.
What did I like? I have loved every one of the books that John has written and this one lives up to the excitement and action of the others giving it that WOW, status. I would have to say that John has one of the most creative imaginations around these days, or at least of the books that I have read in this genre. I fell in love with the Carson family way back in book 1 and I have laughed, cried, shouted in happiness and held my breath during all of their battles and triumphes. So I am happy and yet so sad to see their journey end. John’s books, 15 of them now are all incredible and take you on these astonishing trips that have led you to this one. Don’t miss one of them they are all marvelous.
@ddeegott What will you like? An amazing, well written and edited book filled with humor, excitement, action, romance, tragedy, sadness all in one book. Be prepared with plenty of tissues because the tears will flow! The action and excitement will have you on the edge of your seat. The details and descriptions will have you standing in the mix of things with your eyes wide open. The emotion will crush your heart and the tears will fall. The beauty of the scenes will overwhelm you and I know how gorgeous it is there as I have visited the area several times. John does it all justice in his words. The final curtain drops on the most wonderous scene when the family unites. My heart did flip flops!!!! But there is more and it is over the top! You will have to read it to experience this amazing trip in full!!! Excellent job John, I can’t wait to see where you will go next!