Under the Dome

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Raul Esparza

The “propulsively intriguing, staggeringly addictive” (USA TODAY) novel from master storyteller Stephen King—a #1 New York Times bestseller.

It is a typical October morning in Chester’s Mill, Maine: glorious weather, a perfectly blue sky, and quiet. Then, all hell breaks loose. Inexplicably, and simultaneously, a plane falls from the sky in flames; a woman’s hand is severed; and a farmer’s John Deere explores (with him on it). A few moments later, a pulp-truck crashes spectacularly. Somehow, an invisible and impermeable barrier—exactly following the town’s perimeter—has descended upon the town.

Life under the dome quickly becomes a hothouse—with the best in some people and the worst in others flourishing. There are unambiguous heroes and villains, from a supremely corrupt local politician to a very enterprising newspaper reporter. The situation under the dome deteriorates by the minute: supplies of everything are diminishing quickly, the citizens are panicking, and the police force, under the control of the diabolically devious alderman Jim Rennie, implement their own version of martial law. Meanwhile, Barbie, brave Iraq war vet and short order cook, and a band of intrepid pals engage in a race against time to find the source of the dome and raise it before there’s nobody left alive in Chester’s Mill.

Under the Dome is filled with a marvelous and enormous cast of over 100 characters. King’s trademark idiomatic language is pure pleasure to read. “Nowhere in Mr. King’s immense body of work have his real and fantasy world collided with such head-on force” (The New York Times Book Review).©2009 Stephen King; (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

Sure, Steve...

I SO wanted to really LOVE this BIG book. But what happens when books drone on and on? The characters do silly things and the plot takes twists that make you go...huh?

A reasonable effort. Certainly listenable. Just make sure you have a number of "grains of salt" to help you get through it.

Outstanding book, outstanding narrator

This is one of Stephen King's best! His detailed descriptions and understanding of people makes them -- and their actions -- live an breath. I had difficulty discontinuing listening when I had to do other things.

I have been missing Frank Muller, but Raul Esparza was a great choice for a narrator. No, not just a narrator, an actor. Like Frank Muller, Raul Esparza, masterfully creates the characters from Stephen King's descriptions and rivets the listener's attention. One easily hears the shift from character to character in his dialogues.

I will be looking for more books narrated by Raul Esparza.

Excellent!

A painfully tedious read

I really tried to love or even like this book, but I just couldn’t. All the painstakingly narrated details and character development (which also left a lot to be desired) and the story just went absolutely NOWHERE!! I even rewound it a few times thinking surely I had missed something, but no- it just never quite “gelled”... I was surprised to read that so many disliked the narrator. I was always annoyed at Jr.’s drawing out “Barrrrrrrrrrbie” but otherwise, no real complaints. I am a fan of SK, just not of this book.

Not my favorite

While I felt the narration was exceptional, I found Under the Dome less so. To many unanswered questions, too many convenient answers. The ending felt hurried and abrupt. I love King's writing, just not this one.

Meh

The narrator was great, i could really appreciate how the main characters were done.

For me the story was a bit of a miss. I really got into how much I disliked some of the characters and liked some of the others. What I didn't like was the wrap up. No pretty bow, just done.