A NEW YORK TIMES 100 NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2019 SELECTION From #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King, the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since It. In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke … SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents–telekinesis and telepathy–who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.
As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.
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This book tore me up a little. So good. King has done it so many times. I keep expecting him to write something I just don’t like. Sure he’s let me down a couple times over his career, but The Institute reminded me of how truly brilliant he is as a writer.
This book keeps you guessing and I enjoyed reading it very much.
I couldn’t put this book down. Sadly, in today’s times, I could imagine such a thing happening to our children. But I loved how the children outwitted the oh so smart authority figures, getting one over on them now and again. King is my favorite author by far, has been for nearly 40 years.
I’ve been a SK fan since high school, many moons ago. Like thousands of moons ago. There are some I loved, some I found to be okay, some I’ve never finished (I’m looking at you, From a Buick 8).
I loved this one!
King reveals the children and their backstories in typical awesome SK fashion, but the way he brings them together to fight was pure joy. I found the premise extremely cool–I’ve always been intrigued by telekinesis and telepathy, and King brings it together in a splendid novel worth the read. King is the master of the human psyche, and he dives deep into the minds of kids in this one. They’re authentic and real and vulnerable, right down to eating boogers, wetting their pants, and crying into their bedsheets. I rewound my own childhood memories more than once. We’ve all got experiences we wish we could bury, but he pulls the covers back and reveals it all until they’re on the page in great big naked truths. Splendid!
Not over the top paranormal. Not over the top whacko. Nothing short of brilliant.
KUDOS, Mr. King. One of your best in my humble opinion.
Every time I pass a set of lonely train tracks, this book jumps into my head – it has really stuck with me. The main characters are children and I thought the story might be a little bit lighter and more whimsical (because I am dumb and this is Stephen King) so no. The workaday evil evident in parts of this book made me nauseous… but I couldn’t… stop… reading.
Honestly, my favorite Stephen King book since Bag of Bones. Disturbing, profound and suspenseful all in the same breath. The conspiracy driven narrative is as profound as any King storyline that has come before. When the kids in the institute are subjected to poking, prodding, water boarding and near death experiences, sometimes the reader just has to turn away, catching the imagination before it seeps into the darkness that is Stephen King. Definitely a must read.
So, I had heard that Stephen King books had rough endings. Well, he did an amazing job on this book. This is trippy just like his other books, but this is something I totally could see happening. It was well written, I did struggle following a couple of the view point transitions at first, but it still flowed well. I liked the story and how strong the characters were. It will be an interesting challenge with humanity.
I used to have an issue with Stephen King books, in that the endings fell flat and left me unsatisfied. Not so with the last few I have read and “The Institute” is no exception. The story follows a disillusioned police officer, and a whip-smart teenager who was abducted and subjected to cruel mind-altering experiments. The book poses a thought-provoking reason for the thousands of child abductions seen across the world each year. Both story threads are compelling in themselves, but when the two connect, we get an action packed finale worthy of 557 pages. At the beating heart is friendship, a bond that ties so many of King’s stories together. I couldn’t put the book down.
I loved this book! A great fiction story, very well researched and it keeps the reader hooked from begining to end.
Classic King. This one was very hard to put down, and kept my interest all the way through. I hope to see this group of characters again, in a future book.
Usual king, great read
Good Stephen King work.
One of his best.
I just got through reading The Institute by Stephen King. Now this was my first book that i have ever read by him, and now I’m kicking myself for not have read more of his books. I always thought King strictly wrote “horror or blood and guts” type books ” boy was I ever wrong. King has joined my list of favorite authors. I intend to read a lot more of his books.
The story or plot of this book is more of a combination of pychological horrors , and realism mixed with great suspense. The main idea of secret experiments on children done by the government is not new. Supposedly this has been going in the concentration camps back during WWII. However, the difference is how King wrote it and portrayed the main characters, all of which were hero’s in my mind. There were times throughout the book you could actually feel the pain and the loss these children were going through during there stay at the institute, but you could also feel there love, and support for each other as well as their camaraderie.
There were some parts in the book that I actually thought I was experiencing the pain as well, and that was when they were performing the tests on the children. The description of the tests made me actually start feeling the PTSD, and pain and horror their young minds were going through on a daily bases. What frightened me the most is how casually The Institute did to the children once they were done all used up. It was sadistic, and cruel.
I could go on forever talking about this book, but then I would give the whole story away. In the end I have found a new favorite author to place on my favorite authors to read list. This book in my opinion is well worth staying up late into the night and reading it. I give it a five star rating because it has all the things that make a book worth reading. It has good strong characters, dark background for suspense and horror, strong plot to keep you interested, and great writing to bring it all together. I recommend this book to all King’s fans and I dare those who have never read a Stephen King novel to read this one, and I guarantee you will become a fan of his overnight.
Another excellent job, weaving great characters (some rather twisted and demented, but that’s not a bad thing) and what looked like two separate story lines that quickly came together. A great read.
I went into this book not wanting to know to much. I am glad I that I did. I listen to this book. The narrator does amazing job keeping you locked into the story. I highly recommend this book. I really starting to enjoy Stephen Kings books. Since I haven’t really read anything by him. I have been living under a rock. But slowly going through his books.
About Book-
Luke is a 12 year boy who is very smart and got into two different colleges. Until one night things change for Luke when he is taken unaware of what’s going on. Luke meets other kids when he wakes up into another place.
I wasn’t disappointed at all with this book.
Masterful storytelling!
The Stephen King I know and love. Characters you grow to love and care about. Real life, everyday heroes that come through for each other. Misfits that can save us all. Evil, greedy people that are overcome by people doing the right thing and love for one another.
I have read al of Kings books and this is one of his best!
This book was so unpredictable and unexpected, in true Stephen King style… it has a supernatural flavor with evil vs good going head to head. My husband and I listened to the Audible version as we walked… great motivation to get out there and see what happened next.