Die Arena: Under the Dome

paperback

Published June 13, 2011 by Heyne Verlag.

ISBN:: 978-3-453-43523-0

(2 reviews)

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 selectwoman, 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 …

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 selectwoman, 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. ([source][1])

Contains:

[1]: www.stephenking.com/library/novel/under_the_dome.html

24 editions

Kadomi reviewed Under the Dome by Stephen King

Review of 'Under the Dome' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

3-3.5 stars for me. I have to admit I was disappointed after Duma Key. Of the two recent King books that I have read, I felt Duma Key was far superior. Under the Dome is the return of King with a more epic scale. Duma Key is a more intimate book, similar to maybe Misery, which also had a very narrow character focus.

In Under the Dome, Chester Mills, yet another New England town in King's universe of small towns, you have a vast set of characters, dealing with a disaster that happens straight in the first few minutes into the book. An invisible dome forms around the small town, keeping those inside in the town, and those on the outside stay out. The sudden creation of the dome causes lots of accidents that are described in King-style detail. The main protagonist is Dale Barbara, short Barbie, a cook who …

3-3.5 stars for me. I have to admit I was disappointed after Duma Key. Of the two recent King books that I have read, I felt Duma Key was far superior. Under the Dome is the return of King with a more epic scale. Duma Key is a more intimate book, similar to maybe Misery, which also had a very narrow character focus.

In Under the Dome, Chester Mills, yet another New England town in King's universe of small towns, you have a vast set of characters, dealing with a disaster that happens straight in the first few minutes into the book. An invisible dome forms around the small town, keeping those inside in the town, and those on the outside stay out. The sudden creation of the dome causes lots of accidents that are described in King-style detail. The main protagonist is Dale Barbara, short Barbie, a cook who used to be in the military. He reminded me a bit of Stu in The Stand. You never find out how he ended up in the small town, but I guess it doesn't matter. The military on the outside promote him to Colonel and want him to take control of the situation, but the power-hungry used car salesman Jim Rennie who also happens to be one of three political leaders of the town, takes control, hires town brutes as cops, and starts his reign of terror.

It's not a boring book, there's always something going on. It's violent, and some of the details I really could have done without, but it definitely keeps you reading til the bitter end. Once you are done, you have read over a thousand pages of that crazy week of the small town under the dome, seen the dark tea time of the soul in there and probably found it just as predictable as I found it. It'd probably make an action packed movie, but one of the better Kings, it is not. It is merely entertaining instead of brilliant.

KowloonGhost

rated it

Dec. 7, 2009