By Stephen King

Hodder, out now

A school for the talented and gifted whose pupils should not ever be underestimated…

You may wonder as you start this latest work from Stephen King whether you’ve picked up the wrong book, given it’s been promoted as an updating of Lord of the Flies and Tom Brown’s Schooldays (the book that gave us arch cad and bully Harry Flashman). It almost feels as if, after giving us his particular take on the detective story, King is tackling the ‘lone wolf’ character that Lee Child has honed in Jack Reacher (and David Baldacci, to a lesser extent, with Amos Puller). Fear not – the weird starts a bit later than you expect, but the relationships that are forged in those first few dozen pages become very important later on.

Once you get into the work of the Institute itself, you’ll possibly even forget about that opening part. King is on fine form here, displaying his gift for creating a credible society within an incredible situation – the depiction of the hierarchy created between the children thrown together in the Institute echoes but also contrasts with Golding’s in Lord of the Flies (and also evoked memories of Sarah Pinborough’s characters in The Death House), and the ‘scientists’ involved are well drawn. The revelations are skilfully doled out – some will surprise, others are clearer to reader than participants.

The combination of the two threads – and the way in which they are drawn together – works well, and the final confrontation will stick in your mind for some time to come.

Verdict: One of my favourite King books of the last decade – try to go into it as unspoiled as possible. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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