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''Firestarter'' is a science fiction- horror thriller novel by
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...
, first published in September 1980. In July and August 1980, two excerpts from the novel were published in '' Omni''. In 1981, ''Firestarter'' was nominated as Best Novel for the British Fantasy Award, Locus Poll Award, and
Balrog Award The Balrog Awards were a set of awards given annually from 1979 to 1985 for the best works and achievements of speculative fiction in the previous year. The awards were named after the balrog, a fictional creature from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-eart ...
. In 1984, it was adapted into
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. A
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follow-up to the film, '' Firestarter: Rekindled'', was released in 2002 on the Sci-Fi Channel and a
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
from Blumhouse Productions was released on May 13, 2022. The book is dedicated to author Shirley Jackson: "In Memory of Shirley Jackson, who never needed to raise her voice."


Plot summary

Andy and Charlene "Charlie" McGee are a father/daughter pair on the run from a government agency known as The Shop. During his college years, Andy had participated in a Shop experiment dealing with "Lot 6", a drug with hallucinogenic effects similar to LSD. The drug gave his future wife, Victoria Tomlinson, minor telekinetic abilities and him a telepathic form of mind control he refers to as "the push". They both also developed telepathic abilities. Andy's and Vicky's powers were physiologically limited; in his case, overuse of the push gives him crippling
migraine Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...
headaches and minute brain hemorrhages, but their daughter Charlie developed frighteningly strong pyrokinetic ability. The novel begins '' in medias res'' with Charlie and Andy on the run from Shop agents in New York City, the latest in a series of attempts by The Shop to capture Andy and Charlie following a disastrous raid on the McGee family in suburban Ohio. After years of Shop surveillance, a botched operation to take Charlie leaves her mother dead; Andy, receiving a psychic flash while having lunch with colleagues, rushes home to discover his wife murdered and his daughter kidnapped. He then uses his push ability to track the trail of Charlie and The Shop agents, catching up to them at a rest stop on the Interstate. He uses the push to incapacitate The Shop agents, leaving one
blind Blind may refer to: * The state of blindness, being unable to see * A window blind, a covering for a window Blind may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Blind'' (2007 film), a Dutch drama by Tamar van den Dop * ''Blind' ...
and the other
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
tose. Charlie and Andy flee, and begin a life of running and hiding, using assumed identities. They move several times to avoid discovery before The Shop catches up to them in New York. Using a combination of the push, Charlie's power, and hitchhiking, the pair escape through Albany, New York and are briefly taken in by a farmer named Irv Manders near the fictional town of Hastings Glen, New York; however, they are tracked down by Shop agents, who attempt to kill Andy and take Charlie at the Manders farm. At Andy's instruction, Charlie unleashes her power, incinerating the entire farm and fending off the agents, killing a few of them. With nowhere else to turn, the pair flees to the fictional town of Tashmore, Vermont and takes refuge in a cabin that had once belonged to Andy's grandfather. With the Manders farm operation disastrously botched, The Shop's director, Captain James "Cap" Hollister, calls in a Shop assassin named John Rainbird to capture the fugitives. Rainbird, a Cherokee and a Vietnam War veteran, is intrigued by Charlie's power and eventually becomes obsessed with her, determined to befriend her and eventually kill her. This time the operation is successful, and both Andy and Charlie are taken by The Shop. The pair are separated and imprisoned at The Shop headquarters, located in the fictional Washington, D.C. suburb of Longmont, Virginia. With his spirit broken, Andy becomes an overweight drug addict, seemingly loses his power, and is eventually deemed useless by The Shop. Charlie, however, refuses defiantly to cooperate with The Shop and does not demonstrate her power for them. Six months pass until a power failure provides a turning point for the two: Andy, sick with fear and self-pity, somehow regains the push - subconsciously pushing ''himself'' to overcome his addiction - and Rainbird, masquerading as a simple janitor, befriends Charlie and gains her trust. By pretending to still be powerless and addicted, Andy manages to gain crucial information by pushing his psychiatrist. Under Rainbird's guidance, Charlie begins to demonstrate her power, which has grown to fearsome levels. After the suicide of his psychiatrist, Andy is able to meet and push Cap, using him to plan his and Charlie's escape from the facility, as well as to finally communicate with Charlie. Rainbird discovers Andy's plan, however, and decides to use it to his advantage. Andy's plan succeeds, and he and Charlie are reunited in a barn for the first time in six months but Rainbird is already there, planning to kill them both. A crucial distraction is provided by Cap, who is losing his mind from a side effect of being pushed. Andy pushes Rainbird into leaping from the upper level of the barn, breaking his leg. Rainbird then shoots Andy in the neck and fires another shot at Charlie, but she uses her power to melt the bullet in midair, and then sets Rainbird and Cap on fire. Mortally wounded, Andy then instructs Charlie to use her power to escape and to inform the public, to make sure the government cannot do anything like this ever again. After he dies, Charlie, grief-stricken and furious, sets the barn on fire; she then uses her pyrokinesis to kill the employees and blow up their getaway vehicles. The military is called, but Charlie obliterates their vehicles; when they fire at her, she melts their bullets. Charlie blows up the building, leaving the entire Shop facility burning, with almost everyone dead. The event is covered up by the government and released to the media as a terrorist firebomb attack. The Shop quickly reforms, under new leadership, and begins a manhunt for Charlie, who has returned to the Manders farm. After some deliberation, she comes up with a plan and leaves the Manders', just ahead of Shop operatives, and heads to New York City. She decides on '' Rolling Stone'' magazine as an unbiased, honest media source with no ties to the government, and the book ends as she arrives to tell them her story.


Adaptations

* ''Firestarter'' was adapted into a film of the same name in 1984. It was directed by Mark L. Lester and starred Drew Barrymore as Charlie, David Keith as Andy, and George C. Scott as Rainbird. It also starred Heather Locklear as Vicky and Martin Sheen as Cap. ** On the February 3, 2007 episode of '' Saturday Night Live'', host Drew Barrymore reprised her role as Charlie McGee, now an adult and married, in a fake commercial for "Firestarter Brand Smoked Sausages." * A TV movie sequel, '' Firestarter: Rekindled'', was made in 2002. It starred Marguerite Moreau as a grown-up Charlie and Malcolm McDowell as Rainbird. * In April 2017, Jason Blum and Akiva Goldsman announced that they were remaking '' Firestarter'' for Universal and Blumhouse with Goldsman co-writing with Scott Teems. On June 28, 2018 Variety reported that Fatih Akin was announced to direct the remake. On December 16, 2019, Collider reported that Keith Thomas will direct the remake. In September 2020,
Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...
was cast to play Andy McGee. In February 2021, Michael Greyeyes was cast to play John Rainbird. In June 2021, Ryan Kiera Armstrong was cast in the lead role of Charlie McGee.


See also

*
1980 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1980. Events *March 6 – Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman elected to the Académie française. * June 5 **The Royal Shakespeare Company opens a produ ...
*
1980s in film The decade of the 1980s in Western cinema saw the return of studio-driven pictures, coming from the filmmaker-driven New Hollywood era of the 1970s. The period was when "high concept" films gained popularity, where films were expected to be eas ...


References


External links


Firestarter
at Worlds Without End {{Authority control 1980 American novels American novels adapted into films American thriller novels Fictional characters with fire or heat abilities Firestarter (franchise) Novels by Stephen King Novels about psychic powers Novels set in Albany, New York Novels set in New York City Novels set in New York (state) Novels set in Ohio Novels set in Vermont Novels set in Virginia Viking Press books