Red Helmet [Paperback]

Homer Hickam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2008

Song Hawkins is a beautiful, tough, but lonely New York City businesswoman who thinks she's met the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the superintendent of a West Virginia coal mine. But soon after they impulsively marry, Song realizes they're in big trouble. She can't imagine life outside of New York, and Cable has no intention of leaving his beloved town of Highcoal.

Song's visit to the little mining community only makes things worse. It looks like the marriage is over. But in a shocking turn of events, Song realizes it's up to her to put on the red helmet of the new coal miner and descend into the deep darkness. There she faces her greatest challenge with choices and courage that will forever impact the life of Cable and the entire town.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The latest from Rocket Boys author Hickam takes an inside look at coal mining, from shoveling gob to negotiating international trade deals, through the lens of modern romance. A half-Korean New York rich girl turned takeover specialist for Daddy's company, Song Hawkins falls for Cable Jordan, a macho West Virginia mining manager. After a whirlwind wedding, she lasts four days in Cable's town of Highcoal, W.Va. (pop. 624), unable to rough it without her brand of cosmetics or low-fat meals. She likes Cable's house and artisan furniture, though, and she still loves Cable. After learning that her father has acquired the company that owns the Highcoal mine, Song returns to see for herself why the company isn't meeting quotas and signs on for beginner miner's training. As she encounters the camaraderies, rivalries, satisfactions and dangers of mining, Song works on solving a murder along with saving her marriage. Hickam's secondary characters—including a folksy wisdom-spouting preacher, a busty Botoxed ex-girlfriend, and a meticulous MSHA safety inspector—narrowly escape caricature by showing their human side during the climactic scene. Love may conquer all, Hickam suggests, but in a coal mine you also need good engineering. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Homer Hickam is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Rocket Boys, which was made into the movie October Sky.  He is also the author of The Coalwood Way, Sky of Stone, and We Are Not Afraid (all set in his beloved hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia), plus Torpedo Junction, Back to the Moon, and his popular "Josh Thurlow" World War II series.  He is a former coal miner, a Vietnam combat veteran, a scuba instructor, a retired rocket scientist, and, recently, an avid field paleontologist.  More than anything else, he loves to write.  He is married to Linda Terry Hickam, an artist, who is also his assistant.  They share their time with their cats between homes in Alabama and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595546251
• ISBN-13: 978-1595546258
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) has been a coal miner, Vietnam combat veteran, scuba instructor, NASA engineer, and now a best-selling author.

Homer has always loved to write. In the third grade, his teacher, after reading one of his short stories, predicted he would make his living as a writer. He did a lot of other things and had a lot of other interests but writing was always his true passion. After returning from Vietnam, Homer started selling his work. At first, he mostly wrote about his scuba diving adventures for a variety of different magazines and then branched out into writing articles on history, mostly World War II but also some NASA-related work. His first book, Torpedo Junction (1989), the story of the U-boat war along the American seaboard during World War II, was a military history best-seller. It was published by the Naval Institute Press and Bantam. It is still popular and in print.

In 1998, Delacorte Press published Hickam's second book, Rocket Boys: A Memoir, which became an instant classic. It is often studied in schools and picked as a community or library read of the year. It has been translated into a dozen languages, most recently Vietnamese and Chinese.

In February, 1999, Universal Studios released its critically-acclaimed film October Sky, based on Rocket Boys. When speaking to groups, Homer often apologizes to the young women in the audience for not actually being Jake Gyllenhaal (Jake played him in the movie). Jake Gyllenhaal, when speaking to groups, often apologizes to adult women for not being Homer Hickam. They're actually good friends.

In 2011, Rocket Boys the Musical continued development on its march to Broadway (www.rocketboysthemusical.com). Homer is co-writer of the musical.

Homer's first fiction novel was Back to the Moon (1999) which has proved enduringly popular for more than a decade.

There are three more books in the "Coalwood" series after Rocket Boys (aka October Sky). They are The Coalwood Way, Sky of Stone, and We Are Not Afraid.

Homer also has a series of popular novels about Josh Thurlow, a Coast Guard officer during World War II. The series began with The Keeper's Son (2003), followed by The Ambassador's Son and The Far Reaches.

In 2008, his novel Red Helmet, a romantic love story set in a West Virginia coal town, was published. My Dream of Stars, the memoir of Anousheh Ansari, was published in March, 2010.

The Dinosaur Hunter, a mystery/western novel set in the ranch lands of Montana and reflecting Homer's love of both Montana and paleontology, was published in Nov. 2010.

His next novel, titled Crater, is set on the moon 120 years in the future and will be published April, 2012. It is the first in a planned trilogy known as the Helium-3 series.

Mr. Hickam continues to love the sea. He scuba dives and snorkels in the world's oceans. A new avocation is amateur paleontology. He has discovered two of the approximately forty T.rexes ever found.

Mr. Hickam is married to Linda Terry Hickam, an artist and his first editor and assistant. They love their cats and share their time between homes in Alabama and the Virgin Islands.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it in 1 Sitting, January 27, 2008

By 

J. E. Stephens "Jeanne" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Helmet (Hardcover)

This is the best yet by Hickam. I couldn't put it down. It was masterfully written- a real page turner! Any woman who has worked in a man's world could relate to the main character's struggles as she trained and eventually became a coal miner. The descriptions of the coal mines themselves were illuminating. Above and beyond all of this, it is a beautiful love story.
Excellent job, Mr. Hickam.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homer Hickam returns to his roots with a thrilling tale of contemporary West Virginia, January 12, 2008

By 

a reader (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Helmet (Hardcover)

Readers clamoring for fast-moving, absorbing books of either fiction or non-fiction can certainly find both in the works of Homer Hickam. Besides his internationally acclaimed "Rocket Boys" memoirs, Hickam has written a gripping narrative about German U-boats along America's Atlantic coast during World War II ("Torpedo Junction"), a riveting techno-thriller sure to please any science fiction buff ("Back to the Moon"), eloquent and heartfelt words of "strength and courage" inspired by the events of September 11, 2001 ("We Are Not Afraid"), and three action-packed World War II novels featuring the swashbuckling Josh Thurlow ("The Keeper's Son," "The Ambassador's Son," and "The Far Reaches"). With his latest novel, Homer Hickam returns to his roots and the coal mines of West Virginia that he knows so well. And in the pages of "Red Helmet," with its focus on contemporary Highcoal, West Virginia, you'll become familiar with them too, as well as the problems and issues that residents daily--and unflinchingly--face head-on. And throughout the story, which showcases beautiful, hard-nosed New York businesswoman Song Hawkins and the equally tough manager of the Highcoal mine, Cable Jordan, are interwoven thrilling subplots of intrigue, romance, murder, and sheer nail-biting suspense. It all makes for a page-turning tale, one that will captivate the millions of devoted fans of this best-selling author.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book by a great writer., February 29, 2008

By 

michael bragg (glen jean, wv United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Helmet (Hardcover)

I bought this book the first day it came out and enjoyed it tremendously. There's even the speech Homer Hickam made at the memorial to the Sago miners in the back of the book. I got to meet him at a book signing and he is a gracious man. There were a lot of people at the book signing who enjoyed Mr. Hickam's writing as much as me. He is without a doubt West Virginia's favorite author.