I just finished reading Stephen King's Under the Dome, a whopping 1074 pages. The fictional town of Chester Mills is in, you guessed it, the state of Maine, and if you've read anything, by SK you'll fully appreciate that almost all of his stories and novels are usually set in the maritime state. The story opens on what will be known as Dome Day. In it an airplane will crash into an invisible barrier and a woodchuck will be cut in half as a force field envelopes the little town of Chester Mills and its occupants.
King wastes no time setting up his characters. Capt. Dale "Barbie" Barbara is an Iraq Veteran who is departing town after making enemies with a the local politicians son and his posse of thugs. The unfortunate thing for Barbie, is that he get's caught inside the dome with his arch nemesis Juinor Remmie who happens to be quite insane.
Barbie teams up with News Editor Julia Shumway and slowly the town begins to unravel as its secrets are unearthed and the villains enter into an almost "Lord of the Flies" scenario. I won't tell the entire story except to say that King's strongest suit are his characters. Although, having read better than 25 or 30 King novels there are definitely similarities in his characters. The overbearing and murderous politician "Jum Remmie Sr" is very much like that of "Greg Stillson" from The Dead Zone.
Regardless, Under The Dome is a good read, although a very long one. There are many layers of characters, interesting dialogue, and unusual circumstances that creates a story that moves along quite well. I enjoyed this book and would recommend for fans of King and readers of horror scifi.
That's the word
PD
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