Stephen King never disappoints me. The Institute is well-written, engaging, mysterious, slightly creepy, and upsetting. King is a master at developing characters and making us care deeply about them. Then he develops new sets of characters and brings everyone together for an amazing plot. But smarter people e have written about King’s works, so I will stop. But he always impresses me.
We start with a former cop turned drifter who ends up in a small town working on a railroad. Nothing to see here, but we are immediately drawn to this cop and his observations on small-town life. Then the plot shifts completely to focus on Luke, a gifted kid in Minnesota. Luke is special, in ways that his parents don’t understand, and it is clear that he might have unusual powers. One night, a black car pulls up and takes Luke from his home, and his life will never be the same. Less is more when it comes to the plot description of The Institute. King’s novels are so detailed and full of twists and turns that summarizing a plot makes me sound like a crazy person.
The Institute is not King’s best book (but I don’t know what is his greatest work) but this is an engaging read that will stick with you for some time. I would recommend this book to friends who are fans of King’s works. It is escapism at its finest, even though I was pretty creeped out when I read this book late at night. It’s not scary, but it’s Stephen King and you never know what he is going to throw at you next!!
Perhaps I should go back and re-read some older classics of his that I read in my teen years during quarantine. Or maybe it is time for a Dark Tower re-read. Gah, I don’t know if I have that in me just yet. But long live Stephen King and please keep writing as much as possible. He is likely putting self-isolation to good use.
Some stats!
-
Finished on March 6, took 7 days to read
-
561 pages
-
4 stars on Goodreads
-
Genre: Science Fiction
Please feel free to view my other musings (mainly book reviews and cat hammock stories) on Instagram or Blog