King, Stephen, Under the Dome (Scribner, 1994).
Available in hard cover, paperback, Kindle and Nook.
Reviewed by Kevin Penrod, Jr.
Imagine you lived in a nice small town. Now what would you
do if without warning or explanation an invisible barrier appeared around the
border? That is exactly what happens to Chesters Mill. A day that started like
any other turned into a morning of critters cut in half, car crashes, plane
crashes, and "alotta dead birds" as the entire town is, for lack of a
better term, sealed off. This book is Mr. King at his best. A thing that I can't
even begin to fathom is how one person could come up with so many different
characters and keep them straight. He does that and so much more in this novel
that I believe will become a classic.
The best way I can describe it is that it is like a roller
coaster but instead of going up the giant drop at the beginning, you start at
the top and just get thrown in then after all the twists and turns you find
yourself at another giant climactic drop at the end. This book will keep you
guessing till the very end who (or what) is behind this mysterious dome. As the
characters try to find out the same they also deal with corruption and deceit
inside the town. Stephen King does great in this book where the scariest part
is the people and how they react to the dome and each other.
In this book, being sealed off from the world and whatever
has caused this isn't the worst part. The worst part is the people that are
sealed inside with you. I say with you because you do feel the terror and
emotions of these characters as only Stephen King can make you. If you need a
good book to read on a rainy day, or any day for that matter, I recommend you
make it this one.
BLOG EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was written early in 2013
and somehow lost in the shuffle. Subsequently, the novel was turned into a
television series that ran for three years (39 episodes). Apologies to Kevin
Penrod for delaying publication of his review.
