Skip to content

The Institute

The Institute

MysteryScience Fiction
Pages
576
Published
2019
Language
English

Synopsis

When young Luke Ellis is abducted from his home, he wakes up in a mysterious place called The Institute. Here, children with special psychic abilities are held captive and exploited by the staff. Luke must find a way to escape and expose the dark secrets of the Institute before it's too late for him and the other kids.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

DarkTenseMysteriousThought-Provoking
Chosen OneSurvivalComing of AgeReluctant HeroSacrificeFound Family

Genres

Mystery Science Fiction Thriller Horror Suspense Literary Fiction Paranormal

About the author

S
Stephen King

Stephen King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author whose work has defined popular horror fiction for more than half a century. Born in Portland, Maine, he grew up in poverty after his father abandoned the family, and credits his mother's resilience and a voracious reading habit as the foundations of his imagination. He began selling short stories to men's magazines while working as a high school English teacher, and published his first novel, Carrie, in 1974—his wife Tabitha retrieved...

Characters

Luke EllisProtagonist
Tim JamiesonSupporting

Former policeman who takes a job as a night knocker in DuPray, South Carolina; his storyline converges with Luke's and he takes part in the climactic confrontation with the Institute's forces.

Kalisha BensonSupporting

One of the older children held in Front Half; caring and intuitive, with telepathic ability, she becomes a protective figure among the captives.

Nick WilholmSupporting

A fellow captive with a fierce temper and hatred of the Institute's staff, who befriends Luke and grows close to Kalisha.

George IlesSupporting

One of the children imprisoned alongside Luke in Front Half.

All characters in The Institute

Frequently asked questions

  • What is The Institute about?

    Published in 2019, The Institute follows Luke Ellis, a twelve-year-old with mild telekinetic ability, who is kidnapped and brought to a secret facility in rural Maine. The Institute houses dozens of children with psychic powers—telepathy and telekinesis—who are subjected to painful tests while their abilities are amplified and exploited for an undisclosed purpose. Luke's focus shifts from escape to understanding what the Institute does with the power it extracts.

  • How does The Institute connect to King's earlier work?

    The novel is spiritually a companion piece to Firestarter (1980) and shares DNA with The Dead Zone—all three center on the exploitation of psychic children by institutional forces. King has also noted similarities to IT in its focus on a group of children working together against an adult power structure. The Institute stands alone, with no direct universe connections.

  • Who is Tim Jamieson and why does the novel open with him?

    Tim Jamieson is a former policeman who arrives in the small South Carolina town of Dupray after a chance encounter redirects his flight. The novel opens with his arrival and spends considerable time establishing his life in Dupray before connecting him to the Institute plot. King uses him as an outsider perspective and a logistical participant in the novel's climax—the structure mirrors how King delays the monster's reveal by first grounding the reader in a separate, ordinary world.

  • Is The Institute suitable for younger readers despite its child protagonists?

    The Institute is not a young adult novel despite its child protagonists. The abuse the children suffer is depicted with clinical brutality, and the novel includes violence against children that King does not soften. It is adult horror fiction that happens to follow children—similar to IT in that respect. Parents should treat the audience rating as adult.

Read all 9 reviews