Charlie McGee’s parents participated in an experiment involving a drug called “Lot 6” for $200.00 when they were in college. As a result they developed psychic abilities that were passed to their daughter in the form of pyrokinesis. The government is hunting Charlie and her dad to turn them into guinea pigs to further the testing of the Lot 6 drug. While they evade the tireless members of “The Shop” Charlie must learn to control her power and understand what it means to have such an ability.
Charlie McGee could be Carrie White’s sister and Stranger Things’ Eleven’s more legitimate doppelganger. I found her character to be very cathartic and believable for a seven year old girl. I enjoyed watching her relationships with her father and the other adults in the story develop and change like they do in real life as a child matures and learns that their parents don’t know everything and not everyone in the world has good intentions.
I gave this book a 3/5 on Goodreads and a 7/10 on bookstagram because there were some slow parts while King builds his characters and setting and such. There’s usually a section or two like this in other books of his I’ve read so I don’t mind too much, especially as the character building makes them feel more real and relatable. That being said, I didn’t like Firestarter as much as I’ve liked other King books such as Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, or Lisey’s Story. There were a few deaths in the book that I expected to feel more strongly about than I did and that disappointed me a little. However, I think the problem there is with me somehow; I’m confident that others may get more out of those moments.
I’ve yet to read a “bad” Stephen King book and Firestarter isn’t bad at all. On the contrary, I’d highly recommend it to fans of his other work, sci-fi stories, and Stranger Things. There are probably just a couple other titles I’d recommend first.
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