Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 5/1/2025 + 1257 more book reviews

Another Stephen King book that's been on my radar since it was published a few years ago. I have been a King fan forever, at least since I first read Carrie and 'Salems Lot back in the 1970s. The Institute harkens back to one of King's tropes that he has used in several other books including his early books, Carrie and Firestarter; that is the possibilities of psychic phenomena including telepathy (TP) and telekinesis (TK). This book especially reminded me of Firestarter where a young girl is wanted by a secret agency to harness her pyrokinesis for use as an ultimate weapon. Well, The Institute is like that novel but stepped up on steroids. It's about a group of children who are kidnapped because of their signs of TP or TK by an organization that attempts to increase these powers for use against people who could possibly cause worldwide devastation sometime in the future. But to do this, the children are abused with shots, physical punishments, drowning therapy, and eventually the destruction of their minds. But the Institute doesn't reckon on Luke Ellis, a brilliant 12-year-old who was kidnapped even though his TK powers were very low. Luke is a really great character who makes his only friends at the Institute. But is his brilliant mind enough to go against the powerful people behind the Institute?

This was a typically long novel by King but it was really fast paced and I was able to read it in a few days. The characters were well developed including the doctors and staff at the Institute that were very easy to hate. And the children that were being used were often heartrending. King is really masterful at portraying children in peril and this book was no exception. Another winner from King.

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