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Book Review: The Institute by Stephen King (Dueling Review)

 Editor’s note: We previously published a review of The Institute written by Murray Samuelson. This review, by David Simms, takes a second look. 

 

The Institute by Stephen King.

Scribner, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1982110567

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

 

Reviewing a Stephen King book is always a mixed bag. Love it and people think it’s favoritism, hate it and they believe you are being contrarian. Some of King’s books deserve a tepid review, but even when it’s just an okay book by him, it’s usually better than most other writers. There’s a reason why he’s had over 20 books on the bestseller lists. King knows how to draw people: he understands them, inside and outside their heads, and the minutiae that make up our everyday lives. The Institute is one of his good novels of recent times. While it’s no Salem’s Lot or The Stand, it immerses the reader in the characters’ lives in a story that is successful in everything it attempts.

The plot is relatively simple: Luke Ellis, a talented young boy, is abducted in the middle of the night. His parents murdered, he is shoved into a black SUV and driven to the titular institute where children with telepathy and telekinesis are studied. This may sound similar to Firestarter, but it isn’t: If readers must compare this to another King title, it’s closer to IT than anything else. Luke awakens in the Institute, where he meets a group of other kids who fill him in on what happens in the “front half.” Keep your head down, follow directions, and earn tokens for everything from television to candy to other treats. Mrs. Sigsby is the evil woman who runs the institute with an iron fist. She is quick to dole out punishment to the kids, a true caricature of evil, the only weakness of the novel. The supporting cast of the story is much grayer in nature as the staff within run the gamut from caring to apathetic to downright sadistic. The purpose of the place is nebulous which lends a deft touch to the story. What’s in the “back half?” Is it death or something better? Worse? Once children leave the front half, there is zero communication with them. Only the youngest, Avery, has the skills to sense anything about the others at a high level, and might signal a solution to their captivity. Even Luke, brilliant for his age, is still just a kid at heart. For all of his skills and ability to read people, he’s still a child, stuck in an adult’s psychopathic playground. King is a master at painting kids, and this might be his best effort yet. IT is a masterpiece, but the Losers’ Club was closer to teenagers than true children.

In a side story, a mysterious ex-cop leaves Florida and heads north, only to make a strange decision to divert into a small South Carolina town where he accepts a job as a “knocker.” His assimilation into that community is fascinating, and it is curious to see how the pieces come together.

The final product is both thrilling and touching, frightening and timely.

A welcome addition to the King canon.

Recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on February 22, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: The Institute by Stephen King

The Institute, by Stephen King

Scribner, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-9821-1056-7

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

The Institute is entry number fiftysomething in the catalogue of He Who Cannot Stop Writing, better known as Stephen King.  As he has been wont to do since 2010’s Full Dark, No Stars, King continues to mine the vein of psychological horror, finding true evil in the inhuman actions that normal, rational human beings foist on each other.  King doesn’t need vampires, hotels with a mind of their own or undead children with scalpels to do so: he finds plenty of ugliness with the insanity of everyday people.  The Institute isn’t on the level of his unholy trinity of The Shining, The Stand,  and ‘Salem’s Lot, but it’s still a very good read, and one that would be considered outstanding for any other author.  It’s clear that over 40 years into his career, King still has an iron grip on his claim to being America’s best writer, and he isn’t likely to relinquish the throne anytime soon.

The first 40 pages consist of following Tim Jamieson, an ex-cop drifting through life, who  winds up in the tiny hick town of Dupray, South Carolina and takes a King-created job as a night knocker, someone who walks the town from dusk till dawn, checking business doors and keeping an eye out for trouble.  The story stays here just long enough to get the scenario set and characters developed, then  jumps to Minnesota, with a completely different thread and set of characters.  It’s a testament to King’s skill that he’s able to do this.  He creates interest in an ordinary situation and location, gets it all developed, and then shifts gears to something completely unrelated, but no less interesting.  Phase 2 focuses on Luke Ellis, a child genius. who at the age of 12 is taking the entrance exams to MIT, the country’s most famous genius farm.  Luke is kidnapped and his parents killed one night, and he wakes up in a lockdown hospital/research unit in northern Maine known as The Institute.  Luke and the other children are subjected to various tests, beatings and tortures, as their captors seek to exploit extra-sensory abilities that most of the kids didn’t even know they had.  Of course, their handlers have their own nefarious reasons for their actions.  Eventually, the Maine and South Carolina threads tie together, and the story barrels through a thrilling conclusion.

As often happens with King, this one is yet ANOTHER page turner that is hard to put down.  A great deal of King’s skill lies in making any character at all seem interesting and worth the reader getting emotionally attached to.  Even the minor characters, like security guards and homeless people are completely developed, and you want to know what happens to them, no matter how small their role in the story.  The dialogue is perfect, whether the characters are southerners or New Englanders.  King clearly does his research, and gets all the little nuances and mannerisms perfect when the characters are conversing or taking actions.  The other area where he shines, as always, is in creating settings that make perfect sense, down to the last detail.  Everything fits, whether it’s detailing an escape plan or describing the methods used to physically and mentally abuse children.  He never leaves room for unbelievability, it all seems completely plausible.  King’s unequaled skill at all of the above is the main reason he’s been on top of the mountain for so long.  Of course, none of this matters unless the story is exciting, and it is.  It’s a fast burn of a story, and maintains a quick clip through its 500 plus pages.  There are no sections that drag, it all flies fast and keeps you turning pages.

The Institute is yet another winner from the author with the most consistent track record of excellence in American literary history.  If you’re a King fan, you’ll like it, and non-fans would also be likely to enjoy this one.

Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

 

Posted on January 18, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage.

St. Martin’s Press, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1250170750

Available: Hardcover, paperback, mass market paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Stage enters the collection of novels about creepy kids with a solid entry that is tough to categorize. Some might call it horror, others a thriller, but many would consider it to be a family drama– all depending on what the reader discerns is the true dilemma facing the family between the covers of this engrossing book.

While it may be compared to The Bad Seed and The Omen, Baby Teeth doesn’t attempt to mimic either story. It is content to narrate its own tale, that gradually and organically grows from something trite and familiar, into a final product that will either have readers scratching their heads, or shaking them with disbelief. Both could be a good thing– or utterly frustrating.

The Jensens are a normal family, at least until little Hanna comes along. Suzette and Alex have no idea what’s in store for them when this little seven-year-old unleashes her terror on them– well, just on Suzette. Hanna worships her daddy and shows him only the sunshine in her damaged soul. She saves the darkness for mommy.

The alternating point of view between Hanna and Suzette might recall shades of Gone Girl, but the story is not as complex. It is, however, almost as twisted. Stage constructs a story that takes the reader on a mind-bending journey that flits between reality and something that might be just a little into the realm of horror. Is little Hanna possessed by the spirit of a witch who was burned at the stake in the 17th century? Is she pure evil? Or is she something different?

When the Jensens’ home situation dissolves into pure hell, Hanna targets her mother, but in a subtle manner, choosing to remain mute, except for in a special instance. Suzette and Alex send her off to a special school, only to have her return soon afterwards, for reasons that remain mysterious.

Readers who are seeking pat answers and conclusions that will cross every T and dot every I might find some issue with Baby Teeth in its construction, yet that’s also what makes the novel work so well. While it has more in common with Gone Girl and domestic suspense than horror or supernatural stories, that isn’t a bad thing. Stage’s writing renders the plot lean, and the characters strong. He takes chances with styles and pulls off more hits than misses. This novel breathes new life into a sub-genre that has long needed a book to spin a new angle. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

Editor’s note: Baby Teeth is a nominee on the final ballot of the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievment in a First Novel.

Posted on May 10, 2019 by , Reply
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