Under the Dome (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | Stephen King |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction Political novel |
| Publisher | Scribner |
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Publication date
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November 10, 2009 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 1,074 |
| ISBN | |
Under the Dome is a science fiction novel by Stephen King published in November 2009. Set in and around a small Maine town, it tells an intricate, multi-character and point-of-view story of how the town's inhabitants contend with the calamity of being suddenly cut off from the outside world by an impassable, invisible barrier that drops out of the sky.
At 11:44 a.m. on Saturday, October 21, of an unspecified year (but somewhat later than 2012, as a faded bumper sticker references Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign) the small Maine town of Chester's Mill is abruptly and gruesomely separated from the outside world by an invisible, semipermeable barrier of unknown origin. The immediate appearance of the barrier causes a number of injuries and fatalities, and traps former Army Captain Dale "Barbie" Barbara—who is trying to leave Chester's Mill because of a local dispute—inside the town.
Police Chief Howard "Duke" Perkins is killed instantly when his pacemaker explodes when he gets too close to the dome. This removes the last significant opposition to James "Big Jim" Rennie, used car salesman and the town's Second Selectman. Big Jim exerts significant influence on Chester's Mill and seizes the opportunity to use the barrier as part of a power play to take over the town.
Big Jim appoints one of his cronies, the incompetent Peter Randolph, as the new police chief. He also begins expanding the ranks of the Chester's Mill Police with questionable candidates, including his son, Junior Rennie, and his friends. Junior has frequent migraines caused by an as-yet undiscovered brain tumor which has also begun affecting his mental state; unbeknownst to Big Jim, Junior was in the process of beating and strangling a girl (Angie McCain) to death when the barrier appeared and has killed another girl (Dodee Sanders) by the time Big Jim places him on the police force.
Elsewhere in Chester's Mill, Col. James O. Cox (who is stationed outside of the Dome) calls Julia Shumway, the editor of the local newspaper, and has her carry a message to Barbie to contact him. Cox then asks Barbie to act as the government's agent to bring down the Dome, as it has come to be known. Drawing similarities to Barbie's Army specialization in locating enemy munitions factories, Cox gives him the task of locating the Dome's power source, which is believed to be somewhere in the town. Cox is also able to foresee the small-town political ramifications of such a situation. By virtue of a Presidential order, Barbie is reinstated in the U.S. military and brevetted to the rank of Colonel. Barbie is also presented with a decree granting him authority over the township. However, small town politics being what they are, this action is not well received by Big Jim and his band of renegade police officers. Around this time, Brenda Perkins, Duke's widow, discovers a file on her husband's computer that lists Big Jim's moneystealing schemes.
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