Stephen King likes to start with an unlikely premise and then develop an engaging story around it.   This is another one of his “what-if?” stories that starts with an unusual event –  a transparent dome appears over the town of Chester Mills.    Every attempt to get through it ends up in disaster and the casualties mount.   Some air and some water get into the dome, communications signals still work, but the town is physically isolated from the rest of the world.   No one can get in and no one can get out.   No one knows how or why it happened.

One possible scenario is that the townspeople will all band together in a democratic and cooperative way to ensure everyone is okay.   But this is a small town with some larger-than-life characters.   Corruption, hidden crimes, murder, secrets, and power struggles are woven into the fabric of this place.   Big Jim reminds me of Donald Trump and Junior, Chef Phil Bushey, Carter Thibodeau, and their team are in it for themselves only, justifying their actions under a number of explanations, fronts, and cover-ups.

Stephen King often creates and amplifies characters that are unlikely heroes.    The book is about 1000 pages long and a great deal of the development of the story is the conflict between the growing power of Big Jim and his team versus a few principled individuals try to do to maintain order, respect, and safety for all.

The mystery of the dome is discovered and a solution is eventually found, almost incidentally.    The depredations and heroism of the days under the bubble become known to the outside world and the hypocrisy, conflict, evil, greed, and conflict seems almost ironic.   In a polarized America where violence breaks out with factions convinced they are “On God’s side,” the story of Under the Dome seems like a parable, a commentary on American society of the times.

This is a big, sprawling book, with many engaging chapters and memorable characters, a book that is right up there, at the high standards of Stephen King storytelling.

My rating – 4.7 out of 5.0 stars4.7

An audiobook excerpt: