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12 March 2014
Title
| Firestarter |
Author
| Stephen King |
Publisher
| Warner Books |
First Published
|
1980
|
Pages
| 510 |
Genre
| Science Fiction, supernatural |
Did you ever take place in a controlled medical experiment, maybe as a student to earn some money? You know the type where they pay you some money and part of your group gets given the 'real' new drug and part of the group gets given the placebo?
Andy McGee takes part in just such an experiment as a student which, as he learns later, is run by a government agency called 'The shop' who are testing a hallucinogenic drug they called Lot 6. Andy has flashbacks of people screaming and being carried out of the room during the experiment, but he had a bad trip and can only vaguely remember. But what The Shop didn't plan for is that two of the students on that experiment will fall in love, get married and have a child.
Andy and his wife Victoria both realise that they have powers - Andy can mentally 'push' people to make them do certain things, and Victoria has telekinetic abilities, however, Andy also gets terrible and debilitating headaches if he where ever to use his power, and Victoria's ability is rather minor. However, when they have a daughter, Charlie, they quickly discover that she has very powerful pyrokinetic powers. If Charlie is angry for whatever reason, whatever Charlie focuses on gets set alight. As parents, they want to protect Charlie as much as possible, so from an early age, they teach her not to use her power and control it, wanting Charlie to grow up as normally as possible.
But 'The Shop' find out about Andy and Victoria - and are most interested in Charlie. After watching the family for many years, they finally make their move to get Charlie - with tragic consequences for the whole family. But Andy fights for his daughter, as he knows that otherwise she will just face a lifetime shut away in laboratories. He manages to track her down and him is fleeing with her. Not long though and 'The Shop' will do anything to get Charlie. But they underestimate Charlie.
This is one of King's very early books (I've just read on Wiki it was his 8th book, published in 1980. I love his early books, they are, in my opinion, just so original and powerful. Up to then, no-one would have thought of this kind of idea for a story (Ok, someone is probably going to prove me wrong on this point now!). One of my very early King reads, and another one I couldn't put down. Not wanting to include a spoiler, I can say that the story also 'resolves' at the end (which is not always the case in King's books). Though the full purpose and agenda of this government agency 'The Shop' is not fully elaborated, there is no need for complicated explanations. Just enjoy the ride King-style.
