The Insitute

Stephen King writes. He sits down at his computer each day and he writes. And he keeps writing. He writes until the book he’s working on is finished and then he – I’m only guessing here – starts another one. And he works at that one until it’s finished before starting the whole process over again.

It has to be something like this, this practically Trollopian work ethic, that keeps the books coming. What really surprises me though is how he manages to maintain such a high level of quality. I do think there was a big dip between 1996’s Desperation and 2008’s Duma Key, when I finished every one of the books with little more than a shrug. But almost all the ones he’s written since then have been more than worth the purchase price. And some of them – Revival, Under the Dome, Joyland, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams – I would have happily have paid twice that price for.

I don’t think The Institute ranks as high as those – after such a long, slow, powerful build-up, the climax is just a little too rushed – but it comes pretty close. It has his fabulous ear for dialogue; his skill in creating in vivid, memorable characters (good and bad); and above all his ability to keep you turning the pages to find out just what surprises he’s come up with next. It's a great read.

And then there's Elevation.