Firestarter

Rating:
Summary: Great Book That I wish Also Had An Audiobook Version!
Review: I'm not going to write about the plot of this book because so many other reviewers have already done that but I will just give my opinion about Firestarter! My Favorite Stephen King book is the Shining but my second favorite is Firestarter and I agree with the reviewers who have said that this book is underrated, underappreciated and misunderstood. I think some people didn't like Firestarter because it wasn't as scary or weird as some other books by Stephen King and I agree that parts of the story are more mystery and suspense but it's a nail biting sit on the edge of your chair or sofa type of mystery and supsense book and I enjoyed reading it. I don't have this book anymore, I had traded it in at a used book store and I have really regretted doing that so I'm planning on buying it again and this time it's going to be a keeper! I also wish they had made an audiobook recording of Firestarter, I would love to listen to an unabridged audio recording of Firestarter but when this book was first published audiobooks weren't the popular product like today but anyway I still think they should consider doing audio recordings for Firestarter and also The Shining! There is a movie based on this book starring Drew Barrymore as Charlie and I enjoyed it even though they left out a lot of things from the book.

Rating:
Summary: King Thriller Fails to Light my Fire
Review: Stephen King's Firestarter is a thrilling, gripping story of a girl who can set fires just by thinking about it and her father who can bend minds. I would not recommend this for first time readers of Stephen King. For a first King book I would recommend Christine just to get used to his writing. This book is great for the fire loving and the scary book readers. I would recommend this to older people ages fourteen to adult. Smaller children would get confused and the language is a bit too mature. People like this book because it's action packed from cover to cover. This King thriller isn't that good compared to other books. This is not on my top 10 list.

This is an outstanding book. Read it. I would recommend reading the book then watching the movie. Then if you get confused with the book, you can turn back to the movie. Over all this is a great book by Stephen King. After reading this you'll understand the power of the flame. You'll have fire phobia.

Rating:
Summary: Dont get Charlie mad, her fiery temper is explosive!
Review: This book is the tale of Andy and Charlie McGee. A normal looking American father and daughter on the outside, in their own eyes ordinary people cursed with extradionary powers, in the eyes of the "shop" (a.k.a. the CIA) a dangerous experiment gone wrong and a threat to "national security". Andy McGee and his wife voluntereed for a psychological science experiment in college for money, not suspecting the true nature of the experiment or what drugs they were exposed to through I.V. drips. They are tripping on hauleceniginic drugs for 72 hours or so and he and his wife discover that they have psychic powers. She is a low level telekanatic, (she can move things with her mind) but can only do small things like shut doors from across the room. He has psychic powers of pressuasion. He cannot read minds or see the future but he can control the minds of other people. For instance if he told someone to jump in front of a bus they would have to do it despite themselves. He calls this "pushing" people but he does not use this power unless he has to. The power takes a huge toll on his health and gives him headaches. His wife and he vaugly remember the science experiment in college but have largly blocked it from their minds. Their child has abilities that far surpass either of theirs. She can set things on fire with her mind and it takes no physical toll on her, in fact the more she uses her power the better she feels. She is pretty much a Goddess, although she can be killed with a bullet or posion or whatever, however she could burn down an entire forest and as she matures she becomes more and more powerful, one day she could have the power of a nuclear explosion. The agents from the "shop" watch her parents and her, Andy suspects this because when they leave the house and come back things are rearanged. The "shop" agents panaick when they lose sight of Charlie for a few days, they think that the family is about to go on the run. Instead Charlie is at a sleepover at a friends. They barge into the house, torture Andy's wife by pulling out her fingernails (ouch!) until she reveals her daughters whereabouts. They then kill the wife and plan to kill her husband and kidnap the child. Andy finds his wife dead in the basement and catches up to the agents at Charlie's friend's house. He deals with them ruthlessly (they just tortured and killed his wife) and then goes on the run with Charlie. Eventually the agents find them and force a confrontation, something they very much regret after Charlie lets them have it. Eventually they capture Charlie and an American Indian "shop" agent pretends to be her janitor and befriends her through manipulation. This character (I forget his name) is great. He is evil but intelligent and resoursful. He puts on an act as a Vietnam POW who is still traumatized by his experinces as a prisoner of war. He finds his way into Charlie's heart and talks her into cooperating with the "shop" experiments. Charlie eventually understands what is occuring and loses it. This book has a great climax, Charlie really lets loose her power. One of the best endings King has ever written.

Rating:
Summary: lacks sparks of greatness
Review: boy meets girl during an experiment. they later get married and have a kid. the man turns out to have a certain ability, but it's the kid that really has a "gift". she can start fires by will alone. the family is under surveillance by an agency. one day they by misfortune kill the woman. the man and the child is forced to escape and hide. this is the story about how they manage (i won't give anym more away). actually, i liked the father and his ability much more than the kid. there is an indian here having a large role, that i never appreciated. this is a thriller, carried out ok. what i found sad, was that it really didn't have anything to recommend it. usually, SK gives you something, but this simply doesn't. plot:mediocre. descriptions:can't even remember them. characters:uninteresting. psychology:strangely absent (to be king, he is usually better). events: mostly not that interesting. etc.

Rating:
Summary: Jill's review
Review: I thought that the book Firestarter by Stephen King was one of the better books that I have read. The way that the writer writes really brings you into the book and allows you to be involved in what was happening. When they screamed you screamed, and when they jumped you jumped. I think that it is amazing accomplishment to be able to do this. I like to be scared on purpose and by starting this book I realized that the book was going to be scary and it was going to make me jump but never could I have imagined that it would be happening in my own house as I am reading the book. I felt the heat when Charlie burnt the house and the farm down. Firestarter was definitely a success! (139)

Rating:
Summary: Firestarter, Disproportioned But Still King Worthy
Review: "Disproportioned" is the only word to appropriately describe this story. This word fits the story for many reasons. Although it contains many excellent points, it should have been organized better.
The pace at the beginning of the story is grand. It jumps right into action as the main character Andy McGee and his daughter Charlie are running from a government branch known as, "The Shop." The Shop has been sent to track down Charlie and her father. The first 100 pages keep you wondering just why they are after Charlie, which makes the reader more apt to read on. Eventually, the pieces fall together as it explains that Charlie has the ability to start fires by simply thinking about something. The book calls this ability Pyrokenesis. Charlie is able to do this is because her father and mother were injected with a drug, lot 6, back when they were in college. This gave them supernatural powers. The mother has the ability to move small object by thinking about doing so. Andy, the father, has the ability to control people's minds and tell them what to do.
Like many other Stephen King novels there is a complex storyline, where the characters are developed very well. As Andy and Charlie are escaping upstate to flee the shop's agents, Andy has flashbacks of what happened before. At this point the reader discovers that the Shop has killed Charlie's mother in order to find Charlie. The book goes into great detail of how the Shop tortured the mother by pulling her fingernails out.
Next the story discusses the background of the shops agents. One of Stephen King's major strengths as a writer is his ability to develop characters. In this way he gives the reader a sense of empathy for the good guys as well as the bad guys in the story. The other main character is Cap. He is in charge of the shop and has ordered the capture of Andy and Charlie.
The problem with the story is that there are too many climaxes. First the Shop meets Charlie and Andy at a local farmers house. This was built up through the entire story and then it slows down totally after Charlie lights up the whole farm. This makes it seem like the story should be over but still it continues when the Shop catches up with the family later on further upstate. This time a new character appears who is an Indian by the name of John Rainbird. Rainbird's described in great depth as a lover of death. His major goal is to murder Charlie. He wishes to do to this because the look in his victim's eyes in the past has always looked the same. This makes him believe that a young girl's eyes may look somewhat different. This becomes his obsession. King builds up John Rainbird as the villain very well in the story. By the end of the story the reader has developed a true sense of hatred for Rainbird.
Again I believe that the ending itself was very disproportioned. Seventy pages from the end of the story, the end climax takes place. The climax was done adequately but nothing amazing. One of the main characters died which should have signified the end, but the story was far form over. The last 60 pages could have been summed up in a simple 3 or 5 pages. King's major downfall in the book is his failure to end the story quickly yet with an impact. Instead he chooses to drag it on without another climax or anything leading up to anything!
All in all, the story was done very well. The action was built up nicely. The weakness was that there were too many slow parts. Though Stephen King is noted for being a great writer because of his details, there should have been some significant editing. Also if it were not for the weak ending this story would have received a very high rating. So I'll rate this story a 7 out of 10, and I recommend it to any Stephen King lover who is looking for an action packed book.

Matt Otis

Rating:
Summary: 1st King
Review: This is the first King novel I have read (I read his non-fiction book, _On Writing_ a couple years ago). I am not going to go into details on the plot of the story; rather, I will discuss the quality of the book.
I actually first considered reading it after I had seen the first couple of minutes of the movie in a hotel. I found an old copy of the book lying around the house once I got back from my trip, and I started to read. It was not long before I was hooked. I was afraid it would be a senseless horror book, so I consulted with a friend who is an avid King reader. He suggested I read it, and mentioned that the book was not like King's others.
So I read it. And my friend was right. To make a comparison, I think this book reminded me of Crichton more than anything else. It was fast paced and an easy read, but it was still believable (as something on this particualr subject can possibly be).
So, the book was overall excellent, and I only give it four stars simply because it is not one of the best books ever, just one of the better. Anyone looking for a serious read requiring thinkging should probably put this book off for a while in favor of something more weighty, but it should do just fine for the average reader.
Thus, I bid you adieu.

Rating:
Summary: Conflict in The Firestarter
Review: Conflict in The Firestarter
The book The Firestarter by Stephen King is successful because of its use of conflict throughout the story. In a site conflict is described as when the protagonist is opposed by some person or force in the play. There are 5 types of conflict: man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs. fate, man vs. nature, and man vs. society. In The Firestarter the conflicts of man vs. man and man vs. society is used. Throughout the story a little girl and her family faces many problems of conflict. The conflicts of the story are what make this book so successful and enjoyable to read.
One type of conflict that Stephen King uses is having the family and the daughter face man vs. man. King uses this literary device to help the book succeed by having the daughter have an antagonist who is brought out in the rest of the community. The conflict with the family and the daughter is helpful for the book because it causes chaos within the community. Another reason why this conflict is helpful for the book is it makes the reader not want to put the book down. Something could happen with the daughter and her family at any moment.
The other conflict Stephen King uses to help make The Firestarter successful is man vs. society. The community is very worried when a medical test goes wrong on two subjects. The two subjects marry and have a daughter who has pyrokineses, which is the ability to make fires with your mind. She goes around starting fires without anyone knowing.
The use of conflict throughout the story The Firestarter by Stephen King makes it successful. With all the twist and turns, we as readers do not know what is going to happen next. There is non-stop conflict, which helps the action throughout the story.

Rating:
Summary: Firestarter by Stephen King
Review: Do you like sci-fi books? If you do then you'll love Firestarter. This book is about a medicine test that went terrably wrong, causing a family to be chased by the "shop" a goverment organization. The medicine is supposed to allow telekinetic, but it causes the test subjects to have other powers and go crazy. Two of the subjects get married and have a daughter that has pyrokineses, which is the ability to make fires with your mind. the reason I like this book is because it was full of suspence. I also liked the way he used different points or veiw lik he did in Salems Lot. I think that anybody who likes good books would like Firestarter

Rating:
Summary: Firestarter
Review: Two college students volunteer for a secret government experiment. Their offspring is a clever little girl who can push things around with her mind, then set them on fire. By a master of the horror genre.