Synopses & Reviews
Stephen King "returns to his glory days of
The Stand" (
New York Daily News) with his new #1 bestselling epic!
Just down Route 119 in Chester's Mill, Maine, all hell is about to break loose...
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day, a small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and rain down flaming wreckage. A gardener's hand is severed as the dome descends. Cars explode on impact. Families are separated and panic mounts. No one can fathom what the barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away. Now a few intrepid citizens, led by an Iraq vet turned short-order cook, face down a ruthless politician dead set on seizing the reins of power under the dome. But their main adversary is the dome itself. Because time isn't just running short. It's running out.
Review
"Under the Dome takes a lucid, commonsense approach that keeps it tight and energetic from start to finish. Hard as this thing is to hoist, it's even harder to put down....It also has a great capacity for escapist fun, without which Mr. King could never lure readers through such a long trek." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"[A] foot-on-the-gas-narrative told in breathless idiomatic style. King couldn't give two hoots for ornamental language or lyrical phrasing, but you've got to admire him for making this so compelling. Although he's an undisputed master of suspense and terror, what gives King's work heft is his moral clarity." Graham Joyce, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"[V]intage King: wonderfully written, good, creepy, old-school fun." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[King] can produce great work...and he has done it again here....Regular King readers will rejoice at his return to his strengths. Some will balk at the page count, but a fast pace and compelling narrative make the reader's time fly. Highly recommended." Library Journal (starred review)
Review
"Under the Dome is King at the top of his form. He manages an intricate plot with seamless skill, he brings a large cast of characters vividly to life, and he puts the pedal to the metal with a story that charges through more than 1,000 pages with a constant fusillade of surprises." St. Petersburg Times
Review
"King keeps a huge cast very busy in his third-biggest novel ever...[H]is explanation for the dome has a prestigious pedigree...and his way with mayhem remains nonpareil." Booklist
Review
"[U]tterly engrossing and awesomely entertaining....Under the Dome is the sort of book for which the phrase 'page-turner' was coined: You'll never tear through a 1,000-page book so fast." Miami Herald
Review
"This is King humming at the height of his powers, cackling at human folly, taking childish glee in the gross-out and all the while spinning a modern fable that asks some serious questions without sounding preachy." The Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
Don't miss the "harrowing" (The Washington Post) #1 New York Times bestselling thriller from master storyteller Stephen King that inspired the hit television series, following the apocalyptic scenario of a town cut off from the rest of the world. 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.
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About the Author
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), the short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, the Bill Hodges trilogy End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and now an AT&T Audience Network original television series), Doctor Sleep, and Under the Dome. His novel 11/22/63 — a Hulu original television series event — was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower and It are the basis for major motion pictures. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.