Book Review: "11/22/63" by Stephen King

In this book, King departs from the horror genre for which he is best known to tell a tale of a man who attempts to alter the course of history.

Jake Epping lives in Maine in 2011 and is told of a time portal that will transport a person back to 1958. His friend Al had previously used the portal to attempt to thwart the Kennedy assassination. However, Al developed terminal lung cancer and would not be able to finish the job. So Al returns to 2011 and convinces Jake to try. Jake travels back and assumes the identity of George Amberson. After preventing a horrific local crime, George makes his way to Texas to find Lee Harvey Oswald to determine if Oswald acted alone, then to determine how to prevent the assassination. During these years, George takes a teaching job, where he impacts many students, and also falls in love with the school librarian, Sadie.

As the time draws near, George discovers that the past is extremely resistant to change. Numerous obstacles crop up to get in the way. Also, George struggles with how much of his "past" (future?) to reveal to Sadie. A constant worry is of the "butterfly effect" and how much the future will be different when George/Jake goes back to 2011.

I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that I thought the ending was perfect and appropriate. I highly recommend the book, even if you're not a fan of Stephen King.