Stephen King's incredibly ambitious, heartstoppingly dramatic time travel novel, "11/22/63" is a WHAT IF novel like no other.

Reviews

In King's latest, his first full-length novel since 2009's Under the Dome, the horror master ventures into sf. Maine restaurant owner Al tells high school English teacher Jake Epping that there's a time portal to the year 1958 in his diner. Al has terminal cancer and asks Jake to grant his dying wish: go back in time and prevent the 1963 assassination of JFK. Jake's travels take him first to Derry, ME-the fictional (and creepy) setting of King's 1986 blockbuster It-to try to stop the horrific 1958 murder of a family. Later, he heads to Texas, where he bides his time-teaching in a small town, where he falls for school librarian Sadie Dunhill-and keeps tabs on the thuggish Lee Harvey Oswald. It all leads to an inevitable climax at the Book Depository and an outcome that changes American history. VERDICT Though this hefty novel starts strong, diving energetically into the story and savoring the possibilities of time travel, the middle drags a bit-particularly during Jake's small-town life in Texas. Still, King remains an excellent storyteller, and his evocation of mid-20th-century America is deft. Alternate-history buffs will especially enjoy the twist ending. Film rights have been optioned by Jonathan Demme (of Silence of the Lambs fame). [See Prepub Alert, 5/23/11.]-David Rapp, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In this audio edition of King's latest novel, which uses time travel to re-examine the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, both the author and narrator Craig Wasson deliver the goods. In what proves to be an adventurous, thrilling, thought-provoking, and romantic story, English teacher Jake Epping travels back in time and works to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating Kennedy. Wasson embodies the good-natured and honorable Epping, while creating accents and speech patterns for the supporting cast, capturing the twang of smalltown Texas high school students, Marina Oswald's struggle with the English language, and Kennedy's Boston accent, which the narrator doesn't overdo. Wasson is even able to provide a credible voice for George de Mohrenschildt, a friend (and possible co-conspirator) of Oswald who speaks English and Russian with a German accent. The audiobook includes an afterword featuring King discussing the book and a little-known vignette his research turned up about Oswald's assassin, Jack Ruby. A Scribner hardcover. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.