I just listened to the last few words of 11/22/63 as I pulled into the driveway at work after lunch. Of course, you are all reading this the next day since I’ve already posted something today and don’t want to do two posts. Anyway, I feel like I just got off an emotional roller coaster ride. I was crying as I listened to the end of this audio book.

This whole time travel thing starts out with a dying friend of Jake Epping asking him to go back in time “through the rabbit hole” to stop the assassination of JFK because the friend was now too sick to do it. I won’t explain all the particulars about it because, to me, they’re spoilers. You have to learn everything little by little when reading the book. So I think this is going to be more about how the book made me feel than about the book itself. I hate spoilers. Through this whole book, I felt closer and closer to Jake as I experienced with him so many things. He actually did more than just try to stop the Kennedy assassination. He changed some other things, too. His intentions were always good, but he had to do some unethical things for the greater good. I never blamed him. I wanted so much for everything to work out for the better, but there’s that little thing many call the “butterfly effect”. So many things happen in this book, some good, some bad. I couldn’t help empathizing with almost all the characters. And in typical Stephen King style, the characters were amazing. This book is SO character driven.

About the ending. I won’t tell you what happens, but it might be a little spoilery, so read on at your own risk. I write romances. I read a lot of them. I WANT an HEA. I NEED an HEA. I don’t know why I expected one in this book. It’s not a romance, so anything goes. I wasn’t happy with the way it ended, but it kind of ended the way it had to. Jake had to decide whether or not to be selfish. I realized what he was going to do before he did it, and I was like “No!”. There is actually a sort of almost HEA. I thought there wasn’t going to be, but King saved it. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it eased the pain a little. I still cried. And the ending line was perfect for what happened.

So now, I’m emotionally exhausted. I don’t know what to do with myself because the book is over. I’ll get in my car, and it won’t be there for me to listen to. I didn’t want it to ever end. I felt like I was in the story with Jake and Sadie, and all the rest. I’m sitting here at my desk trying not to cry. Stephen King is the MASTER. No one tells a story like King. I know not everyone will agree, but I can’t think of anyone who writes characters like this man does. This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I want to go to sleep now. I’m so tired….

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Is there any doubt this man is a wonderful storyteller? I’m on disk 10 of a 25 disk set, and I’m going to have to recheck it out because there’s no way I can listen to something this long in three weeks just driving in my car. I find myself itching to hurry and get into my car at the end of the day so I can listen. Same thing in the mornings. This is one time I’m glad it takes me about 25 minutes to get to work!

When I first heard about this book, I thought “Okay, he’s going to try to stop Kennedy from getting shot. Interesting, I guess.” But I should have known this book was about so much more. The main character actually does more than that. I don’t know if the attempt to save Kennedy will be at the very end or if it will be sooner. Of course, I don’t know yet if he’s successful. But this book is not just about that. It’s about PEOPLE, just like Stephen King’s books always are. No matter how much STUFF happens in King’s books, they are always character driven in my opinion. You always get down into the heart and soul of King’s main characters. In this particular book, the MC goes through things that change him, but he does things he has to do. He’s a stronger man than he thought he could be. I LOVE this character, Jake Epping. I want so much for him to succeed because he goes through so much to get there. I don’t want to do any spoilers, so I can’t say too much more. I can say there’s kind of a butterfly effect going on in the book. VERY interesting.

One thing that I find amusing is how King can get by with things that everyone always tells authors NOT to do. I think the biggest thing is this. We are always told not to write anything that doesn’t “further the plot”. And yet, King does it all the time. And he makes it INTERESTING. He can throw things in a story that doesn’t really have to be there, but he puts it in there because he wants to. He can write about what people are eating and how good it tastes, but I get my hands smacked for it. Personally, when I read a book, I like to hear little side things that don’t necessarily matter to the plot but are interesting. So when Stephen King does it, I love it. And he gets by with it and people love him anyway. Because no matter what rules he might break (and I think he’s earned the right to break them by now), he’s still a great storyteller. And that’s what it all boils down to. Can you tell a good story? Do people want to hurry up and finish what they’re doing so they can get back to your book? That’s what it’s all about. That’s what it means to be a writer.

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