It was a fateful day. On November 22, 1963 three shots rang out as President Kennedy rode through Dallas in his motorcade. His assassination changed the world. What if you could change it back?
In this brilliant, masterful novel, Stephen King – who represents the political, social and popular culture of his generation more thoroughly and with more imagination than any other author – takes readers and listeners on a remarkable odyssey into history and the possibility of changing it.
The story begins in Lisbon Falls, Maine, where 35 year old English teacher Jake Epping has a second job teaching GED classes. When he assigns his students an essay about a life changing event, one student blows him away with the horrifying tale of the night more than 50 years ago when the father of Harry Dunning took a sledgehammer to his sister, brother and mother, killing them all. Reading the essay marks a turning point for Jake. His life, like America's in 1963, and like Harry's, will never be the same.
Soon, Jake's friend Al reveals a secret. The storeroom in his restaurant is a door to the past—a specific moment in 1958. Al recruits Jake to take over the mission that Al has become obsessed with—to change history by stopping the assassination of JFK.
Jake takes the name of George Amberson, and begins a new life in a world of Elvis and Ike and JFK, sock hops, cigarette smoke, and big American cars. From the small city of Derry, Maine, where the Dunning murders occurred, to the small Texas town of Jodie, where Jake falls precariously in love, all roads lead to Dallas, and to a disturbed loner by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald. History may no longer be history, time travel has never been so plausible, and the past has never been so breathtakingly terrifying.
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty worldwide bestsellers. In 2003, he received the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives with his wife, novelist Tabitha King, in Bangor, Maine.
"I have the hardcover of this book at home, but knew I would never have the time to read it. The audiobook seemed the perfect alternative. I’m generally not a sci-fi, time-travel reader, but it was by Stephen King so I went for it. For a couple of weeks, my commute was dominated by this engaging and intricate story. In typical King fashion, the images he created with words were easy to “see.” I loved the book and thought “someone should make a movie of this, but it would have to be very long.” The Hulu series brought my mental images to life, but the book helped me understand the story."
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Twigsy (5 out of 5 stars)