Under the Dome

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Raul Esparza

Length: 34 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens - town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing - even murder - to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

©2009 Stephen King (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

Difficult listen

Never finished it, too brutal with everyone doing stupid stuff and getting murdered for it.

Ignore the negative

I was hesitant to listen to this audio book because of the reviews on the narrator’s character voices. I understand the criticism of some, but it in no way takes away from the story. I’d imagine it was difficult to find voices for 50 different characters. I really enjoyed this reading and will probably listen again in the future.

Only recommended for Constant Readers

Not a top shelf King story, but if you are an avid fan (as I am) it’s worth a listen. The characters are all frustrating to one degree or another. The bad guys are over the top and the good guys are all mostly ineffectual. They are all stupid and make boneheaded decisions for the sake of the plot.

The narrator is hit or miss. Some voices are fine and some are just really kinda bizarre. There is a large cast of characters so it’s understandable that he’d struggle to differentiate between some of them. For some reason one lifelong resident of Maine has a cartoonish southern accent and there’s a French person with an accent that I can’t describe, but would never recognize as French.

Despite all this I found it mostly enjoyable. The writing style and themes made for a comfortable listen for a veteran King fan.

Great story

Very much enjoyed this story. I could of done with out the rape scene but overall great story.

Narration distracting

I love the book itself. I find the narration to be puzzling. The accents are all over the place,among each character. I say that as a southerner living in northern Vermont. The narrator seems to be confusing the accents between regions. It was so bad that it was a distraction to the story.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Good book as usual from my favorite writer. Raul Esparza was excellent as the narrator.

Interesting

Great performance. Anyone who can consistently put on personas of that many characters is just phenomenal.

Bad part about the book is that I could zone out for chunks and still be fine. The editors note mentioned that it was even longer if the editor didn’t tell Steve to “speed it up”, but man it could have been a little faster.

I still recommend it.

Stephen King does it again

In this parable of Eco warning like Don’t Look Up combined with a modern day Lord of the Flies, King tells the story of what happens when a small town is literally cut off from the rest of America by a dome. Took a little to get going and then tells the gripping story!

long but exciting

under the dome was a non stop thrill ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat through the entire novel

The reader was fantastic.

Stephen King is my favorite. I watched the TV series first and loved it but the book, blew me away. I enjoyed it very much and would highly recommend it to all.