The Institute

 By Nate Feldman

Stephen King's The Institute begins with Tim Jamieson preparing to take a flight from Tampa to New York when he agrees to an offer to forgo the flight in return for compensation.  He begins heading north from Florida, but when he arrives in South Carolina, he stops in the town of DuPray where he sees they are offering a job for a night knocker, another name for a nighttime security guard in the town.  He builds relationships with many of the locals and begins to grow fond of the town.  One night, a local convenience store is robbed, and the cashier is shot.  Eventually, the local sheriff asks Tim if he would like to be promoted to the police force full-time.  

Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Luke Ellis is a 12-year old academic prodigy whose school is suggesting he attend MIT and Emerson college simultaneously.  However, one night, he is kidnapped in his home, and his parents are killed.  He is taken to "the Institute," a place in the backwoods of Maine that does experiments on children with telekinesis and or telepathy.  There, he meets Kalisha, a child with telepathy who explains what she knows about where they are.

Eventually, after having many experiments done on him, Luke, with the assistance of Maureen, a guilt-ridden Institute employee and Avery, a 10-year old with amazing telepathic powers, is able to escape the Institute and gets on a train that leads to DuPray South Carolina, where he meets Tim.  Then, Luke reveals to Tim and the entire local police force all about the Institute, which has sent people down to South Carolina to get Luke back and prevent the spread of information about the Institute and what it does.

The Institute is a gripping tale with amazing characters, both good and bad.  You support Luke and his friends as they try to fight the Institute as much as you are revolted by the sinister Mrs. Sigsby, the leader of the institute.  The pace is fantastic.  It's a real page-turner, and in my opinion, one of Stephen King's finest works.  I highly recommend it.