In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s 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 ten-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.
Ch.1-25 (view spoiler)[ Tim seems like a decent dude. I can’t imagine making such a spontaneous decision with no solid plans. I’m curious to see how Luke’s story ties into Tim’s. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]
Ch.26-106 (view spoiler)[ this institute is crazy! I still don’t think I fully grasp what is happening in back but the zapping and needles are sufficient motivation for anyone. I’m said about Maureen but glad to hear some of the kids on the other side are still kickin. I wonder if this train will take Luke to the warehouse in South Carolina? (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]
Finished! this was really good! (view spoiler)[ i'm so glad i took a break from my fantasy romance books for this. such a great story and the audiobook was phenom! the ending was surprising and so complete. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)](hide spoiler)]
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.