Under The Dome

Stephen King's best novel in a long time is set in a small Maine town named Chester's Mill. Like many places, Chester's Mill is home to a school of small town big fish. The biggest is Second Selectman Jim Rennie. Smoother than the butter that now clogs the arteries in his portly bulk, Big Jim is not a man to be trifled with. If he had to abide grudgingly by the rules that govern most civilized behavior before a lovely autumn day when an impenetrable dome settled over Chester's Mill, he doesn't see any particular reason for doing so afterward. No one can get in and no one can get out. And no one knows why. After wreaking havoc on a small plane, a few vehicles, many unfortunate birds, and a fair number of local noses, the dome begins to function as a kind of greenhouse for human emotions, bringing out the best in some and the worst in Big Jim, his ne'er-do-well son, Junior, and the motley crew of local thugs that they assemble to enforce their will. As the days wear on with no hope forthcoming from the outside world, Chester's Mill begins its transformation from peaceful town to armed battleground. King's book is rich in potent contemporary metaphors about the flagrant abuse of power. His many characters are expertly fleshed out and the narrative forges ahead like a runaway train. This is a big book in every sense of the word.

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.

"Propulsively intriguing... Staggeringly addictive." -- USA Today

"Tight and energetic from start to finish... Hard as this thing is to hoist, it's even harder to put down." -- New York Times

"The work of a master storyteller having a whole lot of fun." -- Los Angeles Times

"King returns to his glory days of The Stand." -- New York Daily News

"A wildly entertaining trip." -- People (3.5 stars)

"Under the Dome moves so fast and grips the reader so tightly that it's practically incapacitating." -- Newsday

"Stephen King's Under the Dome was one of my favourite books of the year so far." -- Neil Gaiman

"Dome is classic King, sure to please any fan." -- Baltimore Sun

"Spellbinding." -- ABCnews.com

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are Full Dark No Stars, Blockade Billy, Under the Dome, Just After Sunset, the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Lisey's Story and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was recently re-released in a tenth anniversary edition. King was the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2007 he was inducted as a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America.  He lives in Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Publisher: Scribner
Distributor: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 11-10-2009
Pages: 1088
Measurements: 9.25in X 6.12in X 58.345oz