Book Review: 11-22-63

It has been a long, long while since I have read any Stephen King books. I read a few of them in high school – my dad had some in his collection and I snatched them off the bookshelf and consumed them in a matter of days. It’s a wonder I didn’t have any nightmares! The last time I read a Stephen King book was probably high school or maybe college. I guess college because I’m pretty sure the last one I read was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

At any rate, late last year I heard about a new book that he wrote that peaked my interest and I put it on my list of books I would like to read. It wasn’t a typical King book in that it wasn’t a horror story. The name of the book is 11-22-63 and was about a man going back in time to stop the Kennedy assassination, which as you may or may not know took place on November 22, 1963. A long time lover of Kennedy history (thanks to my late Aunt Juanita), it sounded like a book I would be interested in.

Once I got my Kindle and was in need of something to read, I looked at a sample of the book on Amazon and decided I would give it a try. Sadly, I didn’t have a lot of time to read and so it took me a long time to actually get into this book. If I had had more time to actually sit down and read, or if I had taken the time to sit down and read then I probably would have gotten more involved in the book right away. I don’t remember exactly when I started it, but by the time I went on vacation, I was only about 25% finished with the book. Thankfully, I had some spare time at night (no TV) and was able to do a lot of reading, especially on our last day in Florida when things didn’t really go according to plan. I also did some reading on the way home and by the time our vacation was over, so was my reading of this book. I got so interested in the book and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

To me the book started out kind of confusing and took a chapter or two before it made any sense. That could have just been me and my slow reading though. A man named Jake is shown a way to travel back in time. Each time he goes back, the day, month and year are the same as it was the time before. The man who shows Jake the way to the past is dying and wants Jake to go back in time to save Kennedy from being assassinated to see if the world turns out to be a better place. In order to do this, he will have to stay in the past for five years which is only two minutes in current time and space – weird, I know.

The book follows Jake on his journey through the past and all the obstacles he has to overcome in order to try and save Kennedy. And you wouldn’t believe all this guy goes through. In the process, he falls in love and that is when the story gets good because you become so vested in how his relationship turns out. Will he stay in the past? Will or can he bring his new love to the present time which is the future to her? The big question of course is does he save Kennedy and if so, how does the world turn out?

The characters of the story are really well developed and you will become so interested in them that you will anxiously turn the page (or press the arrow button) to find out what happens next. Jake’s journey will take you from Maine to Florida to Louisiana to Texas, all the while developing an intricate plan to stop the assassination; but, it’s not without obstacles as the past does not want to be changed and is constantly throwing Jake a curve ball.

I found this book to be very interesting and I really enjoyed reading it once I finally had time to sit down and get involved in the reading. I didn’t fall in love with it like The Hunger Games for example, but it was a really nice read and I encourage you to give it a try. Let me know if you do.