Not that Stephen King needs another ringing endorsement, but it would be a feat of tremendous ingratitude if I didn't add my own. I have read a lot of books, and immersed myself into a lot of stories, but this story somehow hit me harder than any others have. Part of it was likely because I was listening to the Simon & Schuster audiobook, but far more of it was the fact that Stephen crafted such an incredibly gripping story here. 
 I won't spoil the ending, but suffice to say that, when a certain young character was gasping for breath, I was right there with that Carolinian soldier. When a certain character was haunted by the ghosts of past sins, I cheered for them just as I should have. And, of course, when the story was over, I practically had to run and take a deep breath of free air. 
 There's more to this story than just a well-devised narrative with nigh-flawless technical execution and carefully-calculated characters. There's an underlying longing that we all have, and that Stephen masterfully taps into. We, all of us, are afraid of being trapped, of being cut off from the people that we love, and having no hope of escape. All of us are afraid, deep down, of what might happen if the people we only tolerate now somehow manage to gain power over us. We all know and fear, on an instinctive level if nowhere else, that all of our power and control in life is transitive, and may be revoked for reasons beyond our control and perhaps even beyond our comprehension. 
 And there's another aspect, too. Perhaps unintended by Stephen, perhaps well intended. We take for granted so much in life. Clean air. Plentiful supplies. Personal autonomy. An ecology that sustains us. Communication with others, whenever we wish it. Bonds of love and friendship unstrained by hard choices. 
 All of these things are wonderful, and yet, so rarely considered with wonder in the modern era. For me, the most fantastic part of this story is that Stephen manages to reignite the wonder of even those seemingly minor things. Thus, I can't recommend this book enough. Read it. Enjoy it. And when it's over, ask what lessons you might learn from life under the dome.