Unusual teaser for Stephen King's "Under the Dome"

It's not as if a new Stephen King novel ever arrives quietly. Fans will always be champing at the bit to get the thing into their hands (or on their screens, as the case may be.) But that doesn't mean King's publishers don't enjoy amping up the drama.

To keep fans really on the edge of their seats, Scribner is releasing the jacket art for "Under the Dome" in parts.  The artwork is an unusual combination of photographs, illustration, and 3-D rendering, created by a team of digital artists in New York and Latin America. (This group had previously worked only on ad campaigns. This was their first book cover.)

According to Scribner, the jacket was sent to them in layers – which gave the publishing house the idea of revealing it to readers in layers as well. Four dates were set for the unveiling – Sept. 21, Sept. 25, Sept. 28, and Oct. 5. You can see the three layers already revealed at stephenkingunderthedome.com. The final layer will appear next Monday.

The 1,088-page novel tells the story of a Maine town, Chester's Mill, that becomes trapped under an impenetrable bubble. Readers will have to wait till the book's Nov. 10 release date to find out  more than that but, according to USA Today, the book is "being touted as [King's] biggest since 'The Stand', " his 1978 work.