Title: The Institute
Series: -
Author: Stephen King
Description: 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 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.
Review: Luke Ellis, a 12-year-old boy from Minneapolis, is kidnapped from his
home one night, by a mysterious team. He wakes up in a room that looks exactly
like his own, but doesn’t have a window. Soon he meets peers who have been
similarly kidnapped and inform him: they are locked up in The Institute, a
facility for children with psychic powers. Luke and some of his friends are
telekinetic and others telepathic. At first glance, the facility’s staff seems
friendly, but turns out to have no good intentions. They experiment on the
children and as those increase, more and more of Luke’s friend disappear into
the secret half of the institution. Luke concocts an escape plan, but no one
has ever succeeded to do so.
At first glance, “The Institute” is not Stephen King’s most original
work; children and adults with paranormal abilities have been popping up throughout
his career from his debut “Carrie” to “The Shining”, “Firestarter” and “The
Green Mile”, and many others. Its influence over the years is evident. This
book felt a lot like the storyline of Eleven in the Netflix show “Stranger Things”.
Despite that not be the most innovative theme, King’s “The Institute” is
an exciting, entertaining and at times moving story. The book gradually builds to
a strong climax that reveals everything and more than you as a reader expect. I
loved that ending. This book si more sci-fi, thriller and fantasy than gory
horror. And much attention is paid to underlying themes of friendship and good
versus evil. But there is still suspense in this story.
What I find very good about this book is that it’s both a good start for
Stephen King newbies and recommended for his fans. I don’t think it’s one of
his best books, because it is at times very uneventful and it drags a bit. But
still a pretty good read.
Rating: 3/ 5
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