It makes me so happy. Here it is, good god, thirty-six years later. I started reading Stephen King when Pet Sematary came out. A long time ago. Many moons, many books, many pains and a lot of pleasure. King is still here, and somehow he is still on top. Still cranking out terrific books.

When I picked up my first King, which wasn't Pet Sematary, but The Shining, I immediately fell in love with the writing. I blazed through The Shining and went on a reading jag that encompassed every book Stephen King had published up until that point. That period remains one of the most enjoyable reading eras of my life.

I haven't loved all of King's output since then. Many didn't work for me, but a lot of them did for other fans. For the last decade I have loved all the books.

It's been a hell of a ride. It may seem silly, but I feel as though I have a personal relationship with Stephen King. Even while having never met the man. I think that feeling is the key ingredient for his lasting success. Readers like myself, and there are a lot of us, feel the personal connection. We love the horrors, the suspense, the characters, the humor, but underneath it all is the connection King has established with his constant readers.

Now we have The Institute, King's newest novel. I can't call it a favorite, but I do like it. A lot.

The Institute doesn't Feature King's strongest characters, but it is long on action. It's a thrilling, exciting novel with more of a science fiction premise than out-and-out horror.

In a plot that appears to be inspired by Stranger Things as well as today's political climate, children are being kidnapped and held captive at an institute. Each of them have traces of psychic ability, which is being developed by the institution staff. This is being done for the greater good, but the method used at the institute are barbaric. Things begin to change when a genius-level child is brought into the institute.

The plot of The Institute can be viewed as a metaphor for situations occurring at the US-Mexico border, but the novel does not have to be read that way. The Institute is a lightning-paced action yarn with more on its mind than most stories of this kind. The questions posed by King for his characters, as well as for our society, are not easy ones, nor are there easy answers.

Stephen King presents to his readers a world fraught with evil and monsters. We are all in peril at any given moment, but that isn't what makes this and other works by King so powerful.

The resolution of The Institute comes from individuals banding together to confront adversaries. We've seen it time and time again in his books. In The Stand, Christine, Salem's Lot, It, The Green Mile, Under the Dome, Dr. Sleep, the Hodges trilogy, The Outsider, and others, the strength and power of goodness in people win out over evil.

King has to unfortunately remind us from time to time that evil wins. That good people fall. That fate or happenstance claim innocent people.

Mostly, however, the work of Stephen King celebrates the strength of decent people working together against oppression. That's why The Institute works, and that is why so many of us love him.

Written by Mark Sieber

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