The Institute

“No one does ever live happily ever after, but we leave the children to find that out for themselves.”-Stephen King

King had me at the very beginning when Tim Jamieson out of the blue decides to give up his seat on a flight and decides to hitch hike instead. He’s not quite sure why he has chosen to do this, but he has and off he goes on a walk that takes him to a small town where he takes a job as a Night Knocker (a job his grandfather once had). He’s overqualified for the job but decides to take it, nevertheless. There he meets some interesting people, as one often does in a small town, heck, that is where the truly interesting people live such as Orphan Annie who stole my heart and frankly hasn’t given it back.

Just when I was getting into this plot, King changes things up a bit and introduces us to a brilliant twelve-year-old named Luke Ellis who has big plans for his future. Unfortunately, those plans did not involve being kidnapped late at night and being taken to “The Institute” where other teens are being held. Teens with special abilities such as telepathy and telekinesis. There they are all subjected to various tests, shots, experiments.

I’ll admit, I felt a little let down when the plot changed from Tim to Luke. I was just digging that story line, them *bam*, start over with this one. The second one started off slowly for me but gradually gathered steam and sucked me in. With over 60 books under his belt, King is a master of character development and creates both likable and non-likable characters which make an impact. I was rooting for the kids at the Institute, hoping that there would be an end in sight to their suffering…but this is King, and you know that he is going to draw it out and makes things truly unsettling and unbearable for his characters.

“I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud. ” – Stephen King

I can’t say that this book was horrifying, but it did cause me think “what if” as in “what if, places such as the institute existed? What secret things is our government (or any other government for that matter) involved in secretly? Could such things exist?

Remember that beginning that sucked me in, King brings the story full circle and had me loving some characters even more. He had this reader cheering while at the same time he broke my heart and no truer statement (or thought) was ever written: it’s good to have friends. Damn it, King, just damn it…you left me gutted with that one.

This is a big book as his books often are. After the slow part, it no longer felt big, and I found myself flying through the pages. Thought provoking, captivating, heartbreaking, and engaging, he didn’t disappoint with this book.

Not only is it good to have friends, it’s also good to read a King book from time to time. Can’t say this was my favorite, but I enjoyed it. Stephen King proved he’s still got it, and hopefully he has it for many years to come. Long live the King!