By chance, he gives up his seat on a plane bound for New York City and ends up in a small South Carolina town where a series of events leads him to accept a job working for the local sheriff.Īround the same time in Minneapolis, Minnesota, intruders break into 12-year-old Luke Ellis’s home, kill his parents, and kidnap him. The beginning follows would-be drifter, Tim Jamieson, who leaves his unfulfilling job and takes to the road in search of something new. Like many of King’s works, there are really two parts to this book that end up converging in a powerful and explosive way. First edition United States cover art.Ģ019’s The Institute is billed as a science fiction/horror novel. So, when I learned that King had released a novel that was a bit more like these titles, I was intrigued. I especially love his classic novels, such as Carrie and Misery, and novellas like The Body, the short which spawned the heart-wrenching movie, Stand by Me.

I hope that he continues to narrate books.I am a huge Stephen King fan.

He has a delightful voice and does an excellent job. He was also Prince Hans in Frozen and won the Tony for Lead Actor – Musical last year for his originating role in Tootsie. I know him as original Greg from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I chose to read The Institute because it was very popular on goodreads last year and it was read by Santino Fontana. The only other non-DT King book I’ve read is The Green Mile and that was years ago. I really liked this book and it is not part of The Dark Tower series. This is really the reason I consider myself a true King fan now. It seems that is not correct but it’s kind of head cannon for me now. I kept thinking that this book was related to The Dark Tower and that this was a book about the Breakers. This is a standalone novel but the ending certainly raises new, interesting, and unanswered questions. King’s climaxes seem to happen very close to the end of the book. Also like many King novels, there is a lot of story and a rather quick ending.

The kind that I find myself re-reading, or re-listening to over and over again. Like every King book I’ve read, there are moments within the prose that are nothing short of brilliant. The protagonist is twelve years old so I’m sure the argument could be made that it is YA (I think it is appropriate for young adult readers but should not be categorized as YA as that is not the intended audience). The Institute is a thriller with elements of suspense, fantasy, and science fiction. I read and loved The Dark Tower but I still held the belief that King was a horror writer and that is not really my thing. This is the book that made me a Stephen King fan.

Stephen king the institute review