The first book I read by Stephen King was The Dead Zone, way back in the early 80's. After that I determined to read anything the man wrote; little did I realize what a commitment that would be! I have failed to accomplish reading everything he has written, but I would say I've made a huge dent. At the time, I believed Mr. King capable of amazing stories based on mesmerizing ideas; I was right, he has written some of the most interesting and thought-provoking stories I have read: The Stand, It, Needful Things and The Green Mile to name a few. I'll admit, there have been a few duds, but he mostly bats fourth. This man has an amazing way of making a thousand pages read like a hundred.
In this latest novel, 11/22/63, King addresses time travel, alternate universes and saving Kennedy but altering the future. Some of these concepts are reminiscent of The Dead Zone, perhaps why I enjoyed it so much. Jake Epping first goes back to 1958 to save one of his student's from a horrible life-changing experience. After succeeding here, he decides to stay in the "Land of Ago" to also save President Kennedy from Lee Harvey Oswald. His belief is that this rescue will also stop Vietnam and the assassination of Martin Luther King, among other notable tragedies in the aftermath of that murder; he is hoping to save the world. Not surprisingly, things don't go as expected.
Set aside your notion that King writes horror stories, he writes great stories! At times he gets a bit too political for my taste (he is a raging democrat), but this is easily overlooked for quality. Read this one on your Kindle though to spare yourself lugging around that huge book.
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