Firestarter ⭑⭑⭑⭑
Genre: Horror
US Publication: 1980
Print: 428 pages
Audio: 14 hours 53 minutes
Confetti Rating: 4 stars
REVIEW:
For those of you who have never read one of his books, may I suggest Firestarter as your Stephen King starter? A bit of King kindling, if you will.
Published in 1980, Firestarter’s first issue clocked in at 428 pages. It’s beefy enough not to be just a novella, yet it’s not a doorstoppin’ chunkster like many of books. It definitely fits the classification of horror without being too gory or scary (in my high-tolerant opinion). And it’s pretty darn entertaining.
The story is about a young girl, Charlie, who has the extraordinary ability to make things burst into flames. Her pyrokinesis was a result of the coupling of her parents, two participants in an experimental government study. Charlie and her dad Andy are initially on the run from the secret agency behind the experiment, but the bulk of the novel takes place after they’ve been caught. The agency (“The Shop”) wants to understand Charlie’s power so they can weaponize it. Chaos ensues, and… you guessed it! Fires are started.
Firestarter was one of the few King paperbacks I read in my youth. I have a very vivid memory of reading it in the backseat of our family truckster on a road trip to Ohio, with me rockin’ my new Guess jeans and Gap plaid button down. I also clearly remember a scene where Charlie takes a freezing shower to punish herself for not being able to control her powers. To this day, I think of it every time I turn on the cold blast to lock in whatever shine and moisture is still left in my hair after washing. It was fun to revisit the book and see that the scene actually happened and wasn’t just a figment of my (mis-)imagination.
Parting thoughts! Sorry to report that horses die in this book. Also sorry to report that in writing this review I discovered that a film remake is in the works starring Zac Efron as Charlie’s dad. Man does that make me feel old.
PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:
Andy McGee and Vicky Tomlinson were once college students looking to make some extra cash, volunteering as test subjects for an experiment orchestrated by the clandestine government organization known as The Shop. But the outcome unlocked exceptional latent psychic talents for the two of them — manifesting in even more terrifying ways when they fell in love and had a child. Their daughter, Charlie, has been gifted with the most extraordinary and uncontrollable power ever seen — pyrokinesis, the ability to create fire with her mind. Now the merciless agents of The Shop are in hot pursuit to apprehend this unexpected genetic anomaly for their own diabolical ends by any means necessary... including violent actions that may well ignite the entire world around them as Charlie retaliates with a fury of her own...