The Institute Audiobook By Stephen King cover art

The Institute

A Novel

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The Institute

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Santino Fontana
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A 2020 Thriller/Suspense Audie Award winner!

A New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2019 selection

From number one New York Times best-selling author Stephen King, the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since It.

“This is King at his best” (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis' parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there's no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and 10-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, "like the roach motel," Kalisha says. "You check in, but you don't check out."

In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don't, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is “is another winner: creepy and touching and horrifyingly believable, all at once” (The Boston Globe).

©2019 Stephen King (P)2019 Simon & Schuster Audio
Genetic Engineering Horror Psychological Science Fiction Supernatural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Scary Exciting Supernatural Thriller

Critic reviews

"Stephen King's newest audiobook is compulsively entertaining and features a dazzling performance by narrator Santino Fontana.... Fontana does wonders with this diverse lineup of young characters who band together to fight their captors. Each of them sounds authentic and unique. Meanwhile, the adult characters, with a few exceptions, are a nightmarish bunch. Through them, Fontana shows that evil can have many different voices.... [King's] and Fontana's talents are a winning combination." (AudioFile magazine)

Featured Article: Stephen King’s 20 Best Audiobooks—The Definitive List


Stephen King is one of the most prolific American authors of all time. He has published 61 novels, more than 200 short stories, and six nonfiction books—and he shows no sign of stopping. His most recent novel, The Institute, was published in September of 2019, and we’ve already pre-ordered his novella anthology If It Bleeds, which is set to be released in 2020. With such a large portfolio, choosing one listen to start with can be daunting.

Editor's Pick

The King is back!
"Stephen King’s new thriller, The Institute, takes its place at the head of the table—comfortably seated alongside his other great works. As a huge Stephen King fan, I have been impatiently awaiting this listen for quite some time. To make it an even bigger deal, it’s performed by the great and all-powerful narrator, Santino Fontana. Talk about a wonder team! The story starts off with Luke Ellis, whose life is turned upside down literally overnight. After his parents are murdered and he’s kidnapped by mysterious people in an unmarked car, Luke is dropped into The Institute, where some kids disappear behind doors for being bad (Back Half) while other kids are awarded tokens for being good (Front Half). Will Luke be able to escape, or will he soon fall victim to what’s behind the Back Half of The Institute?"
Nicole R., Audible Editor

Captivating Storyline • Authentic Character Development • Emotional Resonance • Masterful Suspense • Compelling Premise
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Not much substance and it ended in such a way that was easy to guesstimate.

I liked the narrator more than the story.

eh!

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I haven’t read/heard much Stephen king until now, this book made me want more!

I don’t mind character voice acting when quoting characters, but it was somewhat annoying to hear the narrator read whole sections (“fly on the wall”) with voice acting for the character in focus. Besides that I enjoyed the narration and the voices applied to the characters.

Liked it very much.

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I like this book. Its really good. I've got 8 hours left and I got it 2 days ago. It makes it hard to listen to with Santino Fontana's awful performance! And he's a BROADWAY ACTOR. Where's WILL PATTON?!?!?! He's doing his best but its still awful. I'm just sad I've waited such a long time to get this book the day it comes out and I guess its ok that every single man in the book sounds the same! But it's still a good book and Fontana does a decent job.

Great story. Reminds me of Eyes of the Dragon

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Almost didn't download because of some of the reviews I read. I'm so glad I did I couldn't stop listening.

really good

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While I enjoyed this book, Stephen Kings’ TDS
Seeps out 4-5 times with snarky references to president Trump. It is hard to understand the hate in an author that would cause him to write such childish remarks in an otherwise great book.

Great book, childish politics

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Story-line: Suspenseful, intriguing and intense!
Characters: Well-developed characters. I love the Tim & Luke duo!
Narration: Fantastic! I love this narrator who also voiced the book "You".
Overall: I read this in two days and couldn't put it down! I highly recommend!

Wonderful!!!!!!

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This book is outstanding - easily King's best work since 11/22/63 - but more broadly it reminds me of the... I guess, "special" feeling of King's earlier works, like Christine or The Dead Zone or Firestarter, the book this most closely resembles. It feels like an event, like something that will become shorthand in the cultural lexicon, like Cujo or Jack Torrance. This is a great book. I hope King has some more like this left in him.

Reminds me of old Stephen King

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this story kept me intrigued the entire time! I couldn't wait to get in my car and start listening to find out what was going to happen next. I loved some characters and really disliked some, all of them were interesting. what I really didn't need and the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is Stephen King inserting his political bias in the story. we all get enough of that in our every day lives and I like to read to get away from that for a little while.

loved this story except...

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... were the immature political jabs necessary? These comments seem to have been added willy-nilly and served no purpose whatsoever.

Good Book but...

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Synchronicity. The masterful wielding of fates performed by Stephen King in this book are what makes this book a classic from day one.
Performance was incredible!
I loved the sherif character and Annie both roles played without stereotypical interpretations. Very committed.
The story is barrels through you alike a locomotive. Increasing in pace to the intense climax.
Read it. I don’t want to give anything important up.

Beautiful

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