I'm a King addict, meaning I read almost eveything he writes. The good and the mediocre stuff.
The Institute was somewhat inbetween good and mediocre.
The story revolves around Luke. He's kidnapped from his home, his parents are killed and he's brought to an institute where he's subjected to various tests. The reason he's there isn't because he has a very high IQ, but because he's slightly telekinetic (like Carrie, but very mild - to think of it, a Carrie joke would've been funny in this novel, but alas in this alternate universe the novel Carrie doesn't exist probably).
He's not the only child in this Institute. All of them have been taken from their homes and all of them are slightly telekinetic of telepathic. Why they are there isn't explained and where they go after the tests end is an ever bigger mystery. They only know that going back home isn't part of the agenda, unless they take matters into their own hands.
Whenever I read a King novel like this it feels like coming home from a long journey. He's got a familiar style that I like. He's not the most eloquent writer and I felt that certain little remarks could've been edited out, because they don't add to the story (if this would be a television show, it would be the equivalent of suddenly seeing the camera man which deludes the magic a bit).
Still, I enjoyed it. It was quite long, as most of his novels are, but that also means that they are worth their while. It wasn't as good as Revival, but immensely better than the Mr Mercedes- trilogy.
Although it does seem that his antagonists have shifted from being mostly writers to officers of the law, which gives a completely different tone to his stories.
