Firestarter

Rating:
Summary: "Give Me Fuel, Give Me Fire, Give Me That Which I Desire!"
Review: 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!


Rating:
Summary: A heated novel of scientific evil and human endeavor!
Review: 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.)

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book For Anyone Who Enjoys Stephen King
Review: Firestarter was very fun to read. I loved to read about Andy and Charlie through their perils with The Shop. I think this book should be read by anyone who has read and enjoyed any other novels by Stephen King. Although it was a great book, it should not be read by anyone who is under the age of 13, nor should any of his other books, as they are difficult to understand, and often include violence. This book in particular included a few scences of violence, and again it should not be read by people under thye age of 13. I do not think this book is quite as good as his other books, such as The Shining, but it is still one of the best books I have ever read. Charlie's struggle with her powers were a great read, and should be enjoyed by people who have not read this book. Andy and his thoughts of what using his powers were going to do to him were interesting, and they made me want to read more and more about Charlie and Andy's desperate struggle. The whole entire story of Firestarter was a captivating experience. This book is a great example of Stephen King's work, and should be read by all people who have the chance to do so in their lifetime.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: Having read a couple of King novels, I bought a copy of Firestarter because I thought that it would be an exciting science fiction novel. Boy was I wrong. Overall, the book was slow and lacked much excitment.

The story is a girl who inherited pyrokinetic powers from both of her parents who participated in a pyschology experiment in college. After the government discovers the telekinetic powers of the family, they seek to capture them. Agents murder the mother but the father and daughter--Charlie--escape. There run from the government encompasses the first part of the book, which is somewhat interesting. The two use there talents to manuever themselves around the country. The finally reach a safe haven in a family cabin, and unfortunately the book sends too much time on there daily life at the cabin and the government spying on them. Somewhere in the middle there is an incident where a farmer befriends them and doesn't seem to mind that Charlie burned down their farm. Eventually, there are captured.

After the first hundred pages or so, the book really takes a turn towards the boring side. Charlie and her father spend the rest of the book trapped in a government prison. Here we meet the horrible character John Rainbird, a Native American assassin who has a "fancy" for shoes. Rainbird is probably one of the worst characters I have found in King's writings. King characterizes him as a person who enjoys killing others, even little Charlie. Frankly, this is just sickening. Rainbird isn't even an interesting or devishly likable character. Too much time is also spent characterizing Cap Hollister, another boring villian.

The chapters in which the characters are in prison are slower than a turtle crossing the street. There are entire chapters in which Charlie's father is characterized as getting fat and losing his ability and basically just sitting around and doing nothing. Other chapters further detail the disturbing character of Rainbird or Charlie's events in prison. Who cares? Where's the action?

The action does pick up near the end, but it is woven into some type of stupid plot twist to try to free Charlie from enternment. I won't tell you how the story ends, but I found it thoroughly disappointing...even more disappointing that the endings of most King novels.

Overall, Firestarter just moves too slowly to maintain interesting. Novels that were more than twice as many pages as Firestarter (The Stand, IT) moved much faster and were quite readable. Firestarter wasn't. It took me about four months to actually finish it because it was so boring. I wouldn't recommend it. Check out some other works by King instead.

Rating:
Summary: A poor representation of Stephen King's true abilities
Review: I've read many books by Stephen King including "The Stand", the first five of the "Dark Tower" series, "Thinner", "Misery", etc. All of them have left me speechless about how someone could weave a story from nothing, into something that left me craving for more. After my completion of Firestarter however, I was not wanting more, and in fact, I could've done with less. Many of Stephen King's novels are written in a sense that he had some sort of great inspiration, but sadly "Firestarter" seemed to lack inspiration of any sort. If you've read the story, you're well aware that it's about a little girl named Charlie that has the ability to create fires using only her mind... I hope this strikes you as weird, considering it's so basic compared to some of King's other wiritings, such as "The Stand" where he wrote 1000+ pages about an apocolyptic plague that overthrew the better part of the planet, it just strikes me as funny that King would even joke about writing about a mutant who really can't even be called a mutant, seeing is that she has every human charactaristic everyone else did, except the ability to light fires. The plot was was well written, I can give him that, but his development of the characters was something I cannot give him. The story starts off talking about Andy and Charlie, and throughout the entire book, you only learn a few things about them. Overall I think this book could've been written better. I'm giving it a three out of five because I think King was in a slump, and we all get into those time after time.