King & Kennedy -- 11/22/63

I am a huge Stephen King fan, an avid reader of everything he writes.  Sometimes, I'm a bit disappointed, like by his last meandering novel, Under The Dome.  But, having just read his newest, 11/22/63, about a time traveler who tries to stop the Kennedy assassination, my love for The King has been renewed.  Some brilliant characters, thorough research, and a vivid, entertaining story make this one a winner.  The book is a bit of a departure from the author's usual genre fiction, so I would say to give it a try even if you're not usually a fan of his stuff.  Here is a favorite passage:

For a moment everything was clear, and when that happens you see that the world is barely there at all.  Don't we all secretly know this?  It's a perfectly balanced mechanism of shouts and echoes pretending to be wheels and cogs, a dreamclock chiming beneath a mystery-glass we call life.  Behind it?  Below it and Around it?  Chaos.  Storms.  Men with hammers, men with knives, men with guns.  Women who twist what they cannot dominate and belittle what they cannot understand.  A universe of horror and loss surrounding a single lighted stage where mortals dance in defiance of the dark... 

For a more thoughtful and comprehensive review on 11/22/63, check out The New Dork Review of Books.