11-22-63 by Stephen King Audiobook Review

11-22-63: A Novel

• UNABRIDGED
• by Stephen King
• Narrated by Craig Wasson

From Audible.com:

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back?

In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.

It begins with Jake Epping, a 35-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching GED classes. He asks his students to write about an event that changed their lives, and one essay blows him away: a gruesome, harrowing story about the night more than 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer. Reading the essay is a watershed moment for Jake, his life - like Harry’s, like America’s in 1963 - turning on a dime.

Not much later his friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession - to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson, in a different world - of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere. From the dank little city of Derry, Maine (where there’s Dunning business to conduct), to the warmhearted small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love, every turn is leading, eventually of course, to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and to Dallas, where the past becomes heart-stoppingly suspenseful - and where history might not be history anymore. Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.

My Take:  I use to read Stephen King novels all the time when I was younger but I lost interest about the time Cell came out. I recently listened to Under the Dome and really enjoyed it.   I heard alot of good things about this book and that it wasn't a horror novel so I decided to give it a try.  I was glad I did.  This story was about a man going back in time to try and stop the assassination of JFK.  It deals alot with his everyday life of living in the 60s and how much things have changed since then and not all for the best.  I was holding my breath for most of the book worried that Jake would do or say something that would give him away and whether or not he would follow though with the mission or not.  Stephen King is a great storyteller no matter what subject matter he chooses. 

Craig Wasson did an excellent job of bringing the story of Jake and the other characters to life that after awhile I felt like I was hearing the story about and from a long lost friend.  He especially breathed life into Jake's character making him someone that you really cared about. 

I would recommend this book if you are interested in the JFK assassination and if you just like a good story.  There is some sexual content and cursing so be warned.  

Devourer of  books hosts a meme every Friday for those of us who like to listen to audio books to link up to share our audio book reviews so if you are looking for your next great listen head over and check out what others are listening to , maybe you will discover your next favorite book.