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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Stephen King does it again – gives us characters we care about so much we hurt when they hurt, laugh when they joke, and applaud when they triumph.
As usual, Stephen King amazes me again with the characters, settings and plots in this book. I’ll read it again and again.
Only Stephen King could take a plot line that’s been done over and over and make it exciting. Great read, really hard to put down, and characters that are unforgettable. Don’t start reading this one unless you have time to keep reading!
I really enjoyed this book. It’s not scary. It’s thrilling, nerve-wracking, and really makes you think! Awesome book.
This is like the early Stephen King. It is a very plausible story about kids with psychic abilities and The Institute which attempts to weaponize them. Great story and great characters.
Not my favorite Stephen King, but not the worst either.
The cruelty to these children really bothered me. The story was good but disturbing knowing these kids would suffer from a PTSD sort of life afterwards. I did like the telekinesis and teleportation aspects.
Not his best, not his worst. After reading SK for a few decades you can pretty. much predict the flow and ending.
A wonderful tale by Stephen King about children and the terrors they experience in a nightmare created by exploitive adults. No one has a better grasp of kids in distress.
Great book!
Couldn’t put it down
This is the story of Luke Ellis. One night, intruders broke into his house, killed his parents, and kidnapped Luke. Luke is knocked out and he wakes up far from home in a place called “The Institute”. He is greeted by other children around his age with similar stories, and adults that are keeping them locked in. Soon he discovers that all the kids have special abilities like telekinesis or telepathy, and they start to tell Luke that they are there to make those abilities stronger. They don’t understand why, but the children are subjected to countless tests, and shots, and electric shots – all against their will. IF they resist, they are hurt. And soon the children are taken to “The Back Half” of the institute and never seen again.
I liked this book. It wasn’t his best writing, but it was entertaining. It was interested to see where it was going, and what the reason was for The Institute taking the children. It did seem to take a long time to get to the peak of the story and then it was quickly wrapped up. It was fair in the suspenseful category, but not overly scary.
It was fine. Glad I read it, but it isn’t his best work.
3.5 Stars
An intense read, with King’s usual mastery of language and evocative imagery. So very good.
I loved this. King is so strong at presenting us with the voices of children. He has an extraordinary ability to make those children into small, believable adults waiting for their world to be changed by outside forces. The dialogue is never stereotypical of kids, or overly simplified. The premise is original, there’s a lot of action, and the characters are fantastically flawed. I loved it.
The first half of the book is King at his best!
Good but not one of his best.
I lost three whole days of my life because I couldn’t put this story down. Well done, Mr.King.
Best Stephen King book in years. The story was gripping, the characters were fascinating (and well developed) and the narrative had no false steps. The plot was creepy as hell.
Triumph of friendship over a worldwide network of institutions! Avery broke my heart with what happened! What happened to the kids tore at my heart. Their triumph was truly good triumphing over Machavellian intentions!