About half-way through, but I gotta know... **SPOILERS**

[Shabadoojr]

PLEASE tell me the Big Jim and the rest of his cronies get their well-deserved comeuppance. And I mean a satisfying one. All I'm looking for is a simple yes or no. It's been a LONG time since I've hated people so much in a novel before - well done SK - and far too often in novels I've read, when the baddies' number finally comes up it's not at all proportionate to the terrible stuff they've done and it drives me up the wall.

[Moderator]

Only you can be the judge of whether it is satisfying (to you) or not--that's too subjective to be able to say with a simple yes or no. I can only tell you what others have posted-- some people didn't feel it was sufficient punishment but others realized that with Big Jim's personality and ego, the ending was more fitting than it seemed on the surface.

[GNTLGNT]

Yep...Care Bears killed him and ate his brains....(they do that ya know)....

[kvsdiva]

I remember being satisfied but it is relative. I agree with what Ms. Mod said.

[Robert Gray]

Under the Dome is a hard read. It is a painful, emotional tilt-a-whirl that just speeds up when you think it is about to stop. I can understand your desire to know, before enduring anymore, if things will work out right in the end. All I can say is that I think it is worth finishing the book. It is expertly written, paced, and is as brutal honest and unforgiving as a story can be. You will feel like you have gone the emotional equivalent of fifteen rounds with Mike Tyson though, including having your ear bit off. It is a great novel, one of his best.

[Shabadoojr]

So I finally finished Saturday night/Sunday morning (3am... I'm of the type where I HAVE to finish a book regardless of how late/early it is if I'm a certain ways off from the end.)

I was let down. Not with the overall ending of the book (I kinda dug the alien kids), but with how Big Jim and Co. were handled, which was my main concern. I was hoping that somehow Big Jim would've been exposed as the murderous and scheming fraud that he was. That he would be so utterly disgraced in the eyes of the people. I was hoping for justice. Instead those townspeople, a majority at least, all died thinking Big Jim had their best interests at heart. Thinking he was fighting for them, not knowing the extent to which their misery was directly contributed to by Big Jim; and conversely that Barbie was completely set up. And that kinda pisses me off. Even though Big Jim died, he, and everyone else he colluded with, got away with everything - rape, murder, abuse. And not once did they show remorse for anything. Hell, as far as we know, there's no one who really knows the cause of the explosion was his drug lab! All Big Jim will be remembered as is an egotistical and incompetent leader, who had no idea he was in over his head, when in reality he was much much more evil and dangerous. Yes there were the drug allegations, but it was my understanding that he was only under investigation, and with all evidence gone there's nothing else to gone - VADER file and Duke's computer destroyed (though, it's possible Duke's safe was fireproof, so it could still be buried in the ashes.)

I guess maybe my disappointment comes from a sense that the story was essentially unfinished to an extent. Sure Big Jim and his buddies are all dead, so they can't be held accountable, but a nice two page epilogue would've been nice detailing the aftermath. To what extent did the government find out what happened? Was Duke's computer ever found? Etc.

Anyways, that's my take.

[boogerb53]

Anyone who has read much about Uncle Stevie knows he doesn't decide a character's fate...the story tells itself. And just as in real life, the right thing doesn't always happen.

[blunthead]

...I was let down...with how Big Jim and Co. were handled... I was hoping that somehow Big Jim would've been exposed as the murderous and scheming fraud that he was. That he would be so utterly disgraced in the eyes of the people. I was hoping for justice...he [Big Jim], and everyone else he colluded with, got away with everything...

Relax and think about it. What does Big Jim, and company, and anyone else get away with? Their world, even the survivors', is, for practical purposes, utterly destroyed. Under these circumstances, in terms of justice, Big Jim's and son's fate is more than adequate because it rises above (below) that of the rest. Their judgment remains eternal and supernatural.

This solution is real earthly judgment, as opposed to wishful-thinking Hollywood endings. A King story does its best to provide a happy ending--he does not go out of his way to avoid it--but Hollywood happy endings equal "banal" which is synonymous with "non-art". sK's an artist.

[swool621@yahoo.com]

I loved this book! It was difficult to read and very emotional. I love that about a book. Now, every time I hear about a town that is small, I worry that a dome may drop down upon it! Scary concept, Stephen! Well done! Big Jim got his just rewards, as did Junior and the rest of the morons. If only it worked that way in real life! Good people died and good people lived but no really bad people walked away, did they? Good story all around!

[swool621@yahoo.com]

He died of a heart attack in the dark, alone. What more do you need? I was happy to see him suffer in the dark alone, too. I am a bad person.