A novel by best-selling author Stephen King, 11/22/63 is about a man who travels back in time to stop the assassination of – you guessed it – JFK. This book is not typical of King’s usual work, seeing how it is mostly historical fiction with a bit of science fiction thrown in for good measure. I’d say that it’s a major departure from his normal stuff. But that’s ok, because it works.
Currently on the New York Times best seller’s list, this tale tells the story of English teacher Jake Epping, who receives directions on how to travel back in time through a portal – found in the pantry of a local diner – from the diner owner. Rule number one: no matter how long you’re gone in the past, in present time, you’ll only have been gone for two minutes. Rule number two: you can go more than once, and each time you return to the past, the first trip will not have happened. It’s like having a reset button, if you will.
When Jake vanishes into the past, he arrives at September 9, 1958 at 11:58 am. His mission is to stop Lee Harvey Oswald. If successful, so many things that happened after that assassination will never happen – race riots, Vietnam…the list is endless. As you can imagine, the job is not so simple.
Once he gets there, Jake (who lives as George T. Amberson) starts to realize he has to figure out what really happened, and why.
This book isn’t just about history, and the chance to change the world. It’s also a story that magically describes products from that era, love, and mystery – all with a dark edge of evil so cunningly woven through – such as in most of King’s stories.
Frankly, I feel this is one of the best time-travel stores I’ve ever read. I won’t ruin the ending, so you’ll have to read it yourself to find out what happens.
On a scale of 1 to 5, this book gets a 5
1=I WASTED MY TIME, THEY WASTED THERE TIME
2=I DIDN’T LIKE IT, BUT MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT
3=IT WAS OKAY, I WOULN’T SPEND MONEY ON IT THOUGH
4=THIS WAS PRETTY GOOD
5=!EXCELLENTE!, I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD TO EXPERIENCE THIS