The Institute

Starred review from July 8, 2019
King wows with the most gut-wrenching tale of kids triumphing over evil since It. In a quiet Minnesota neighborhood, intruders kidnap 12-year-old prodigy Luke Ellis and murder his parents. When Luke wakes up, he finds himself in a room identical to his own bedroom, except that he is now a resident of the Institute—a facility that tests telekinetic and telepathic abilities of children. Luke finds comfort in the company of the children in the Front Half: Kalisha, Nick, George, and Avery. Others have graduated to the Back Half, where “kids check in, but they don’t check out.” The Front Half are promised that they’ll be returned to their parents after testing and a visit to Back Half, but Luke becomes suspicious and desperate to get out and get help for the others. However, no child has ever escaped the Institute. Tapping into the minds of the young characters, King creates a sense of menace and intimacy that will have readers spellbound. The mystery of the Institute’s purpose is drawn out naturally until it becomes far scarier than the physical abuse visited upon the children. Not a word is wasted in this meticulously crafted novel, which once again proves why King is the king of horror. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff & Verrill.

Stephen King's newest audiobook is compulsively entertaining and features a dazzling performance by narrator Santino Fontana. After a seemingly unconnected prelude that is revisited much later, listeners meet 12-year-old telekinetic genius Luke Ellis. One night, Luke's parents are brutally murdered, and he's drugged, kidnapped, and brought to The Institute. There, he meets other supernaturally gifted children who have been taken. Fontana does wonders with this diverse lineup of young characters who band together to fight their captors. Each of them sounds authentic and unique. Meanwhile, the adult characters, with a few exceptions, are a nightmarish bunch. Through them, Fontana shows that evil can have many different voices. While this isn't King at his most original, his and Fontana's talents are a winning combination. A.T.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine