Customer Reviews

Firestarter (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(97)
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1 star:		(10)

 

 

Firestarter(1980). A Novel By Horror Author Stephen King.

With Stephen King's first novel, 'Carrie', he carefully explored the phenomenon of supernatural and psychic abilities that are inside of us all, just waiting to be tapped. With 'Firestarter', King attempts yet again to write a novel all about psychic abilities, or, in this case, pyrokenesis. While the novel revolves around pyrokenesis, it also describes the secrecy and greed of the government, and how they manipulate their citizens to satisfy their own needs. After the release of 'Cujo' and 'The Stand', two of King's most acclaimed novels, people could only wait for 'Firestarter', which became a huge hit like its predecessors. So, was I impressed with 'Firestarter', or just dissapointed? Read on to find out!

Plot-

Charlie McGee, an innocent little 7 year old, has a terrible secret. In the flick of an eye, she can start fires, and she is oftentimes unable to stop them. Because of Charlie's inhuman abilities, The Shop(an elite branch of the CIA), constantly pursues Charlie and her father Andy to be able to study Charlie for militairy use. As Charlie and Andy travel all over the eastern coast, from New York to Maine, The Shop is always one step behind, giving meaning to the phrase, "you can run, but you can't hide." Although they may be at a disadvantage, Charlie and Andy are constantly trying to find a way to tell the world their sad story, and end the persecution of themselves. Can they do it? You'll have to find out...

Writing/Opinions/Etc.-

While I've been reading Dean Koontz lately, I've never picked up and read 'Firestarter', supposedly one of Stephen King's strongest novels. I decided to read it, and I'm glad I did. While this book may be typically overlooked by novels like 'Cujo' and 'IT', it's no less riveting and thoughtful, able to capture your imagination and keep it. King writes about government conspiracies and psychic abilities, and makes his fictional accounts seem breathtakingly real, as if this may be happening right around you. King has always seemed to be a better author in the late 70's and early 80's, as his novels are better-written, and, often better plotted, and 'Firestarter' is no less different. As I read the book, the pages seemed to be on fire(couldn't help it!), but I was delighted to see the pure emotion and care King put into 'Firestarter'. While it was never a pivotal or famous book in his catalogue, 'Firestarter' is a King novel no fan should pass up.

Overall, 'Firestarter' is a spooky thriller that scares you with the possibilities of a corrupt government and supernatural abilities, while keeping you glued to the novel until it's fiery finale. Definitely a book for any King fan, 'Firestarter' is sure to please almost any reader with an eye for suspense and who likes to have a few sleepless nights.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO FANS OF SUSPENSE AND STEPHEN KING! SOME PEOPLE OVERLOOK IT, BUT THOSE THAT HAVE ANY SENSE DON'T... BUY IT!

Also Recommended-

Cujo- Stephen King
Lost Boy, Lost Girl- Peter Straub
Watchers- Dean Koontz

Thanks For Reading!

Having read every Stephen King novel at least once, I can say without a trace of guilt that Firestarter is one of his finer moments. Pure story. This is King at the height of his powers. Straight forward and ass-kickingly killer. Meet Charlie, she's a little girl that can set fires with her mind. Her father has a small gift called The Push which nearly kills him whenever he uses it too hard. The Shop (King's version of the All-encompassingly-evil secret government agency) is trying to get ahold of the little girl because this ability she has of making fires seems like a good tool in the art of modern warfare. Well...they kill off mommy ... and the race is on. Daddy and Charlie are on the run with nowhere to go and no one they can trust. King kicks out all the stops on this one. Great storytelling. One of his very best. I've reread this one at least half a dozen times. One of my personal favorites. ranks right up there with It, The Shining & 'Salem's Lot. This is King in top form.

Dig it!

Being far too impatient to wait quietly for Stephen King to write a new book, I've recently taken to collecting some of his older novels to read in the meantime. "Firestarter" is one of King's earlier works, but it shows none of the amateur qualities that often afflict the early novels of some writers.

The book tells the story of Charlie, an 8 year old girl who possesses the power of pyrokinesis, a result of experiments her parents took part in during their college years. This ability makes a sinister government outfit known only as "The Shop" particularly keen to get their hands on her, and they don't care how they go about it.

The book opens with Charlie and her father on the run from Shop agents through the streets of Manhattan. Through their desperate attempts to escape, we begin to see more of the mysterious powers Charlie and her father possess, right up to their inevitable capture. However, where the book really starts to bite is in the Shop's Virginia compound, where a disillusioned hitman starts to think that perhaps Charlie can teach him more about death than any of the hundreds of people he has dispatched during his "career".

Firestarter is a genuinely riveting book, one that will have you cheering out loud for Charlie and her dad, Andy, and that will have you fuming at the insensitivity, inhumanity and cynicism of the bureaucrats that run any federal government.

In the growing pantheon of brilliant King novels transmogrified into inferior movies, FIRESTARTER holds an important place (sorry, Drew Barrymore, but you didn't light my fire until years and years later). In this book, it's easy to define why: King writes in-depth characterizations that never come across in the boiled-down, straight to the plot adaptations.

FIRESTARTER is, first and foremost, a relationship story between little, helpless (?) Charlie and her father. Both have extra-sensory powers--thanks to the US government--both are on the run--from the US government--and they have only each other. It's a story of desperation (not to be confused with the latter King book actually called "Desperation"). As these two characters lean on each other against an overwhelming, almost Koontz-like collective villain, the reader cares about what happens. In the movie, we're just waiting for Drew Barrymore to blow up the grownups.

(This review has been posted by Marcus Damanda, author of the vampire book "Teeth: A Horror Fantasy.")

Andy McGee and his future-wife were involved in a scientific experiment when they were in college. They were injectected with a new drug called Lot Six...but they weren't told of the side-effects--like Andy's mental domination ability. They also weren't told that if the two of them were to have a child, their new traits would be passed on...in excess...

Charlie McGee is different from the start--setting fires whenever she gets angry. You see, Charlie has pyrokinesis--the ability to set fires with her mind. And certain people in the government--those in a top-secret organizationc alled The Shop--have learned of Charlie's existence, and want her back...

Andy and Charlie hit the road, running for their lives. It is a breathtaking novel, though it does start out a bit slow--never fear, by the twentieth page you're engrossed. Stephen King has written a (relatively) un-supernatural thriller. The bad-guys in this are at times likeable grandfather-figures, at others one-eyed hitmen with no conscience. "Firestarter" is a speedy, heated (yes, that pun again) novel by one of suspense fiction's greatest contributors. A hell of a read. (And yes, that was another pun.)

Well, hello, Mr. King! This is one of the few books he's written without sounding either completely nuts or like he just didn't care about what he was writing. King has created a real, live, fiery if you will, book that captures the reader.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. Little Charlie McGee is just your cute, cuddly, normal child-- except for the fact that she can create fire with her mind. Her father and mother were part of a drug testing experiment that gave them psychic powers-- Charlie was the result of their marriage. Now the government wants Charlie as a weapon of war, and they're prepared to say and do anything to get her back. King traces the present with stunning urgency, emphasizing again and again the hopelessness of the father and daughter's run against the government. He then traces the past with equal grace, weaving the story all around you to make sure you get it, but always dangling a loose end for you to while the night away trying to wrap up.

Leave it to King to take a topic most would scoff at (pyrokinesis) and transform it into a very real, and very haunting, book. The characters struggle and push and feel, and by the end you'll be feeling along with them. With King's warped mind and unique take on the lengths our government will go to, he is quite the storyteller-- it makes one wonder whether M. Night Shalaman took his cues from King.

Awhile ago there was a group injected with a chemical called lot 6. This chemical seemed to give the people wild powers. Vikki can move things by thinking about it. Andy can control people with the 'push'. And what happens when you cross a 'pusher' and a mind mover? You get a firestarter. Poor Charlie is just a little girl with the SHOP hot on her and her father's trail. After killing Vikki, they had got hold of Charlie once, but Andy had saved her. But then SHOP get's hold of them both, and they make the little girl mad...

The story begins as a man and his daughter running from a confidential branch of the government that deals with paranormal activities. With the mother of the child murdered, the father is forced to survive with with his daughter and her murderous talent. I admire this book, I could not put it down for several days because Mr. King makes you one with the book, running aside with the sprinting man, stealing with the little girl. Mr. king also has a way of munipulating the mind, making you angry, or sad, when he wants you to be, by using words. I have read many of Mr. King's books, and enjoyed them all, but Firestarter is, and will be burned into my mind.

Once gain, the book is a lot better than the film. The film has the general line of action, has the main knots of the plot, but the book gets into the deeper minds of the father and the daughter and it gives the story a lot more credibility. The general line is once again the evil experimentation by the army or some secret services of some drug devised by some crazy doctor. The results are a strange power for the father who was submitted to the expriment, and an even greater power for the daughter who was born from the union of the couple who both were submitted to the drug. The secret services want to study this power in order to produce some news soldiers who would fight without weapons but with their minds. But the very fact that they attack her father makes her so crazy that she uses her power to its full might and destroy this world of manipulation of human beings. But it goes one step farther. The girl is finally safe when she goes to the Rolling Stone magazine and reveals the whole story. The press is all powerful, when they want to be, to stop such scandals and gross over-use of power. This magazine is a far better choice than the one in the film, because it shows that what we could call the pop margin of society is the real protection the whole society has against the abuse of political or military or occult power. The film is also a lot deeper as for the mother and the indian agent. Once again, read the book first and foremost. It is great. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

Firestarter begins with a man and his young daughter on the run from relentless pursuers. We soon learn that Andy McGee and his daughter Charlene, "Charlie," have mental powers that a government agency known as The Shop wants to study. Andy has the ability to "push" others and dominate their minds but can only use it periodically. Charlie has various abilities but the most powerful is to generate intense heat with her mind, heat intense enough to set virtually anything on fire. The Shop agents consistently show themselves to be as reprehensible as they are persistent and have already killed Charlie's mother.

Stephen King often creates interesting characters and Firestarter is no exception. Charlie is quite a remarkable little girl and I liked her quite a bit by the end of the story. Her part is small in the beginning but she starts coming into her own about half way through and just gets better and better from there. Andy is a genuinely good guy, he obviously loves Charlie and desperately wants to protect her. As his history is revealed, it also becomes obvious that he has consistently used his powers to the benefit of others, while most of us would probably be very tempted to use them more selfishly. The villains are no less interesting, and John Rainbird is especially chilling. I don't want to give away any major plot developments but the relationship between he and Charlie is riveting.

Firestarter is a pleasure to read. At just over 400 pages, it's taut and the story moves along at a good pace. It's almost impossible not to root for Charlie and Andy even as it gets harder and harder to see how they can end up with a happy ending. I found it more and more of a page-turner as the story progressed. As with most of King's early work, Firestarter takes a simple, but strong, idea and spins it into a great novel. I recommend it to anyone looking for a suspenseful story with good characters, whether they are established Stephen King fans or first time readers.