The Institute by Stephen King

4.6 (19)
$19.99

Product Details

Web ID: 11774829

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King, the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since It. and This is King at his be stand (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). 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, and like the roach motel, and Kalisha says. and You check in, but you don't check out. and 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.

  • Product Features

    • Suggested age range- Adult
    • Paperback
    • Dimensions- 5. 4" W x 8" H x 1. 4" D
    • Genre- Horror
    • Publisher: Scribner
    • Page Count: 576
    • ISBN- 9781982110581
    • Stephen King (Author)
    • Publication Date: 09-01-2020
  • Shipping & Returns

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Ratings & Reviews

4.6/5

19 star ratings & reviews

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5 months ago

Great Read

I liked the book, and I couldn't put it down. King does a good job making you engrossed in the world of his books. This book wasn't horror by any means, and not gory so if that's what you want then this isn't the book for you. I really liked the way King organized the book starting out with Tim Jamieson and then going thousands of miles to Luke Ellis. This was a little confusing at first because Luke's story was totally unrelated, but of course all the paths connect in weird ways. I will say that some parts of the story are slower than others, but overall it all went by pretty fast. It's also not the biggest book, so if you want a quick read then I recommend this.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

1 year ago
from CNY

The Institute

Started out as a fairly good thriller. Certainly not horror by any means. I liked the early chapters with Tim Jamieson and of course he appears later in the book once Luke Ellis shows up and really Luke is the main focus of the book. The book is way too long, and Mr. King could have left out 100 pages or so without it making any difference to the story at all. There is so much nonsense in this story that I can hardly believe that Stephen King wrote it. Ridiculous political garbage. I loved his early books so much, but it's been a long time since I have enjoyed one. A total disappointment through and through.

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago

Entertaining read

If you only read King for the killer clowns and mysterious vampires, this may not be the book for you (unless government conspiracies terrify you). But if you read him for the coming-of-age stories, and kids with supernatural abilities, this could very well be worth your time. That aside, it is a very entertaining read, at least until the last third. I found it dragged a bit by the end, though not enough to say it ruins the experience. It’s filled with more recent political references, as well as mentions of other works by King (and even a sneaky reference to The Shining movie).

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

2 years ago
from Illinois

My favorite book of all time

I bought this book about 3 years ago in 2020. If I remember correctly, I finished it in about 3 days. Everything about this book is perfect, and it continues to be one of my favorite books of all time. The Institute made me want to read more books by Stephen King, and now I'm addicted to reading books written by him.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

3 years ago
from Ky

Stephen King

Stephen King was the first author I ever read, but this book I absolutely loved. I couldn't put it down. Had so much visual description!! Love it!

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

3 years ago
from New Port Richey, Florida

Great great book

This book is absolutely great. It is not horror, bloody, gorey or gruesome but it is a 100% page turner having you wondering whats going to happen next & the next minute you know you’re half way through the book & can’t stop.

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

3 years ago
from Texas

Makes you think about missing children

I was attracted to this book because…it was written by Stephen King. This book was about - Children with special abilities are kidnapped in the night, their families murdered and they wake up in a room that is almost their room, but in The Institute. Adults enhanced their abilities and use them for the ‘better good’ at the cost of their minds and general health. No one has ever escaped from The Institute. This group of intakes is willing to fight at all to cost to destroy their captors. Things I liked about this book. King’s ability to take the reader into the lives of his characters and experience what they are going through. His books always reveal how difficult it is to fight for good. And always, they battle against evil comes at great costs. Why you should read this book. For me, the power if his books is being a reminder that behind the sweet smiles that greet us, evil is operating all around us. Yes, he pushes our imaginations with the supernatural effects, but at the heart is always a simple story of evil that can be broken down to the sins we see every day and look away from. This is one of his man’s inhumanity to man stories. They are always his most frightening. I read several reviews suggesting disappointment in just another one of his stories. For me, that is the greatness. Fifty years of storytelling and he is still writing ones which keep you capture from the front-to-back cover. This book lived up to the back cover copy. The synopsis on my back cover captures the essence of the book. This quote is given before the begins set the atmosphere for the book, “According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, roughly 800,000 children are reported missing each year in the United States. Most are found. Thousands are not.”

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 years ago
from Fayetteville, AR

Sci-fi centered around kids

My first ever Stephen King read and what led me into his world. Loved this book, found it really interesting and I liked the detail given to the place where the children were held. Some suspense but for the most part not a scary book. Good enough to lead me to now having a shelf full of King books. Love him!

Recommends this product

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com