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.
more
Another very good book by Mr. King about an organization harnessing the psychic powers of children. Once again the author does a very good job of developing the characters of the children to really get you involved in the story. The book would have been even better if Mr. King would have kept his snide political remarks out of it that had nothing to do with the story, but even with that it was a very good book.
Wow. What more can be said. Stephen King still delivers. I never get tired of reading this man. I have been reading him for over 40 years and he never ceases to amaze me with his mind.
Gifted children are being kidnapped and forced to participate in a mysterious program. An honorable man is pressed by circumstance to help one of the children , an escapee, save his friends and bring down the system. Because this is Stephen King, it’s not the story you think it is. Damn near impossible to put down, clear your schedule once you start reading this book.
It’s hard to review Stephen King. He is the master of all things deep and dark and twisted, and this new novel is no exception. There’s something particularly chilling about children navigating these dark places, and King is brilliant. Adults take advantage of children in many ways, but here it’s their extra-sensory abilities that make them fall victim. That’s all I can say. Read it.
It is such a pleasure to return to a truly excellent writer! I have been reading almost everything Mr. King has published since the early 70s. Some has been excellent, some has only been very, very good. I only know I cannot wait for his next. This rates right up there with It, The Green Mile, Cujo, and Dolores Claiborne. If you enjoy excellent, fast-paced story telling with a little sci-fi; you will certainly enjoy this. Once more Mr. King has changed his style and his genre and has maintained his quality, his craftsmanship, and his entertaining writing.
Mr. King puts endless possibilities out there.
My favorite King novel since REVIVAL — written in such a way the pages fly without you even realizing. Everyone loves the kids from IT, but the kids in THE INSTITUTE prove that King’s still got it!
This book will take you through every emotion. You will laugh, you will be angry, and you will cry. What a wild roller-coaster of a adventure.
In some ways, this book is very reminiscent of Firestarter — a likeable kid with an unusual ability imprisoned and used for nefarious purposes. It also alludes to The Dead Zone and its central question — if you know (because of precognitive abilities) that someone will do evil in the future, are you jstified in killing them? Does the greater good negate someone else’s civil rights?
Stephen King’s newest novel, The Institute, was absolutely amazing from start to finish! Loved all the Easter Eggs that tied into some of his other works. The four main characters reminded me of a younger, modern day main cast of his Dark Tower novels. For example, Luke Ellis (a young, modern Roland), Kalisha Benson (young & modern Odetta/Detta/Mia/etc.), Nicholas Wilholm (young, modern Eddie Dean), And last but my no means least, Avery Dixon (youngest of the four, which gave me Jake vibes). Just missing Oy
I enjoyed this book the most in a long time. I have read most of Stephen King’s books and I thought The Institute is definitely a really great read. I can’t wait till they make a movie of it.
I loved this book. It was a rollercoaster ride of a read. The characters are amazing. It was a book I didnt want to put down. I recommend reading this for sure. It does not disappoint.
Stupid
In my opinion this is one of Stephen Kings best books. I didn’t want to put it down. It was extremely interesting to read and it could possibly happen you never know. The characters were very interesting. The time line was easy to follow. Just can’t say enough good things about it. I highly recommend you reading it, you wo t be disappointed!
Loved this book! Mr. king starts you down a couple different paths keeping your interest and not wanting to put the book down.
One of his best. The children in this book will stay with you long after you finish. Classic King!
King at his best when writing about children. Captures their inner workings perfectly. This one is top notch, I feel like I reunited with an old friend.
Like all of Stephen King’s books – it was hard to put down until I had read the book cover to cover!
I give it 5 stars – for some reason this system is not letting me rate with the stars! Shame because it was a fantastic book!
As always, I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t put it down. Read the whole thing in a weekend (my family gave up and started cooking for itself. They even threw me a sandwich. I barely noticed). LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
Astounding book as only Stephen King can write them. Good characters, tense storyline, awesome story.