The Institute (Unabridged)
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4.1 • 143 Ratings
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
2020 THRILLER/SUSPENSE AUDIE AWARD WINNER!
Now an MGM+ Original Series!
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King, the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since It. “This is King at his best” (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, “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.
As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute “is another winner: creepy and touching and horrifyingly believable, all at once” (The Boston Globe).
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Stephen King has always floored us with his ability to tell a thriller from a child’s perspective, and The Institute is no exception. Twelve-year-old Luke has been kidnapped and placed in a facility for kids with psychic powers where the physical abuse is nothing compared to the brutal psychological manipulation. Thanks to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Santino Fontana’s masterful narration, we’re made to feel like a part of Luke’s ragtag group of imprisoned friends, each of whom has a distinct voice and personality. Fontana also perfectly captures the special combination of terror and resilience that makes King’s characters feel so real and fiercely compelling. Listening to this audiobook pulled us into the tense, vivid, and oh-so-chilling world that King has created.
Customer Reviews
Good read
Well, the book was ok but I was expecting more. The book starts off good then kind of settles into a story that just did not grab me too much. It kept me enough to finish the book but that was it. It didn’t have the “can’t wait to pick up the book again” feeling that so many of his other books gave me. Don’t get me wrong, I think all of kings book are good, a lot really grab me, some not so much…….this was one of them.
A Gripping & Memorable Read
The Institute was one of those books that’s genuinely hard to put down. The story flowed so seamlessly that I found myself completely pulled into the world Stephen King created, every chapter left me wanting more. The characters were interesting, the pacing was perfect, and the mix of suspense and emotion kept me hooked from start to finish.
I honestly wish there was a second book that continued with the same characters and storyline. There’s so much potential for more, and I’d love to see where their journeys could go next. An absolutely gripping and memorable read!
Goosebumps
As always Steven King delivered an incredibly well written and suspenseful novel. I literally got goosebumps towards the end. And Santino was the perfect reader. Amazing.