1,100 pages of solid, but not exceptional, Stephen King storytelling. A big, transparent, impermeable dome settles over a town in New England. Communication with the outside world is still possible, but no one (and nothing) can get in or out. Basically: the town gets turned into a giant snow globe. Incredible premise, in my view.

As the book progresses, though, the story falls short of it’s potential. One demagogic figure basically becomes the villain; which makes for a scary bad guy, but I was hoping for no villain to emerge, and for citizens to instead each become horrified by the things they themselves are driven to do as food, water and propane run low. There were some hints in the first 100 pages that things were going that direction, so when that didn’t pan out I was disappointed.

It wasn’t a waste of time - still a thrilling story. It reminded me how much I can love a Stephen King book… even if I don’t love this one, in particular.