The Institute by Stephen King

Pages: 671
Method: Library Hardcover
Rating: 3/5

I would say that Stephen King has somewhat of a cult following, but I’ve always been hesitant to read his books because I’m not a huge fan of horror. I will dabble in thrillers, however, so when I read the synopsis as I was scanning the library shelves, I decided to give it a try. Overall I thought it was well written and a thought-provoking concept that kept me engaged for most of the time.

The beginning of books is very important because that is when you’re either hooked and can’t wait to keep reading or are confused and not sure if you want to continue. With this book, it was a little bit of both. He introduced the two characters in a way that seemed abrupt and random to me, but of course, the stories came together and made sense in the end. And because you didn’t hear from one of the characters for a while, it made it more exciting when they met up with each other later on.

The synopsis says, “The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good versus evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.” And that describes the concept better than I could. It seemed to be one of those train track conundrums where you have to decide if you sacrifice a few for the greater good of the many and the way that it was played out made it possible for you to waver back and forth without feeling guilty. Even the way it ended didn’t feel like a nice little tie up with rainbows and butterflies.

I’m not sure it was the best book to enter into the Stephen King world because it was long and I had to struggle through at some points, but it was good enough that I finished it and I would be more than willing to read another Stephen King book in the future. As long as it’s not horror.