Deep in the woods of Maine, there is a dark state facility where kids, abducted from across the United States, are incarcerated. In the Institute they are subjected to a series of tests and procedures meant to combine their exceptional gifts - telepathy, telekinesis - for concentrated effect.
Luke Ellis is the latest recruit. He's just a regular 12-year-old, except he's not just smart, he's super-smart. And he has another gift which the Institute wants to use...
Far away in a small town in South Carolina, former cop Tim Jamieson has taken a job working for the local Sherriff. He's basically just walking the beat. But he's about to take on the biggest case of his career.
Back in the Institute's downtrodden playground and corridors where posters advertise 'just another day in paradise', Luke, his friend Kalisha and the other kids are in no doubt that they are prisoners, not guests. And there is no hope of escape.
But great events can turn on small hinges and Luke is about to team up with a new, even younger recruit, Avery Dixon, whose ability to read minds is off the scale. While the Institute may want to harness their powers for covert ends, the combined intelligence of Luke and Avery is beyond anything that even those who run the experiments - even the infamous Mrs Sigsby - suspect.
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[Half an hour after Tim Jamieson's Delta flight was scheduled to leave Tampa for the bright lights and tall buildings of New York, it was still parked at the gate]***
(Hodder & Stoughton, 10 September 2019, 485 pages, bought from @AmazonUK)
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Stephen King is one of my absolutely favourite writers. Like any rabid Constant Reader I'd buy and cherish his shopping list if he chose to publish it. Waiting for the release of The Institute has been the highlight of my year. The book was well worth waiting for. King revisits the territory of gifted children that he's spend a decent amount of time in, most notably in Firestarter, Carrie and some books and linked books within The Dark Tower and Talisman series. This is familiar territory to King readers and reading this book was like bumping into an old friend. There is a large cast of characters but King is a master of managing a large cast (most notably in Under the Dome). I loved the fact the book is set in Maine, a place considered by many as King County where his best books have been set. The last couple have not been set in Maine so it was a treat to come home again. This book gets pretty dark, especially towards the end. I was engrossed with every word. I cannot wait to see what King offers next.
