Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is by far the best book I’ve read by him in ages. I absolutely loved it from beginning to end–especially the end because I find King so often duffs his endings. But this one was perfect.
11/22/63 is the story of Jake Epping, who is introduced to a time travel portal by a resident, Al, who owns the local diner. Al tells Jake about traveling to the world of 1958. Every time he returns to the present time, the timeline is re-set, so that the next time he returns to 1958 everything is as it was before, while only two minutes have passed in the present time. Al believes that thwarting the John F. Kennedy assasination is the grand purpose for his time travel. After many fits and starts, he spends four years in the past trying to achieve his goal. He gets lung cancer and has to come back to the present, his mission unfulfilled. He picks Jake, a local teacher, to take up his plan.
Jake of course doubts Al’s story, but Al leads him to the portal which takes Jake to 1958, as promised. Jake spends time orienting himself to the time period, and eventually comes back, convinced but amazed that time travel is possible. He agrees to take up Al’s mission of saving JFK, and enters the past again, which has been re-set as if he has never been there.
The butterfly effect is emphasized in many places in the book–the idea that even the flap of a butterfly’s wings can affect future events. Jake is not certain how his actions might impact the future, including saving JFK’s life. His goal is to live in this time period until 1963, prevent the assasination, and return to the present to see the outcome of his actions. Al is convinced nothing but good can come from it.
I don’t want to spoil anything, as the unfolding plot is too good to give away. But there are lives changed, a wonderful love story, and otherworld characters that hold the strands of time. Highly recommended!
