11-22-63: A Novel

Author:  Stephen King

Year: 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Narrator: Craig Wesson

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and the world changes. King's novel begins nearly 50 years after Kennedy's assassination with Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in Maine. To earn extra money, Jake teaches GED classes. He gives his class an assignment to write about the day that changed their lives. One of his students writes about the night that his father murdered his mother and siblings and left Harry handicapped. 

Then, one of Jake's friends, Al Templeton, shows Jake the "rabbit hole" a portal that leads back to 1958. Al recruits Jake to handle his dying mission - stop the JFK assassination. But, Jake also sees a way to save Harry's family. So he sets off back to 1958 where he must wait out five years until 1963 to stop the Kennedy assassination. In those years, he follows Oswald to try and prove that Oswald was the lone gunman. He also makes friends, falls in love and learns what life is all about.

In 11/22/63, Stephen King does what King does best - he tells a story that captivates and ensnares the reader. While I was listening to this book, I wanted nothing more than to continue listening to find out what was going to happen to Jake and the rest of the residents of Jodie, Texas. Would he be able to stop the Kennedy assassination? And, if he did, what changes would it make in the world? Craig Wesson did a wonderful job narrating the book.