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

Great writing!

This audio moves from the start and does not slow down. It kept me captivated because there was always something happening. I could not stop listening to it because there was never a slow minute. The Stand was always my favorite Stephen King book but this one has now replaced it. You will not be disappointed.

The end sucks!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

LOTS of time well spent. This is a VERY long book. The narrator is excellent.

Would you recommend Under the Dome to your friends? Why or why not?

No. The ending really doesn't make any sense and the good guys suffer FAR more than the bad guys.

Which character – as performed by Raul Esparza – was your favorite?

Hard to say as there were SO many of them. Raul did a wonderful job with all of them.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. They made a TV series out of it though which from the little I've seen is VERY different from the plot of the book.

Any additional comments?

The end sucks.

Decent but a lot of preaching.

This is my first review, but after listening to this book and reading some of the reviews I thought I would add my two-cents.
First,Raul Esparza is amazing bringing these characters to life. He had me hating and loving characters entirely based on his performance and I believe he stayed true to SK's intent. Amazingly done.
Second, the book itself is an extremely veiled sermon on the terrors and horrors of conservatives and religious people of any ilk. I spent a good bit of time just wondering why he didn't just publish an essay on the true subject he wanted to talk about, "How me the conservative reader and all those I know are ignorant and evil."
I have the ability to separate the sermon from the book and did like the overall story and conclusion. But if you can't you may want to skip this one.

Lenghtly but good, ending was rushed

I really enjoyed this audiobook except where I feel the last segment (5 parts) was rushed and the ending was a bit disappointing. Not my typical Stephen King ending. The narrator is very good as he has the voice of many many characters. This is another thing you may need to know.. many many characters here. Overall a very interesting listen. Approximately 54 hours I believe. Well worth your money. It took me about 2 weeks to get the whole book through and with me taking every day to see what happens next. I took this week me to the pool and just sit and relaxed.

Entertaining, fun and ...

I had to return more than 10 years later and fix this review. It was not fair, I did not give the book a fair chance. I must admit I was wrong, hence returning and undoing my mistake. The story is well thought out, entertaining, and sometimes a bit fun. The ending was very interesting, at least for me, makes you wonder if we're living in the matrix. Give it a try, with Audible new policy you can return it if you don't like it, but I believe you'll enjoy it.