Yet “Firestarter” counterbalances governmental evil with basic human goodness when an upstate New York farmer and his wife, Irv and Norma Manders, shelter the McGees. She came out of the Lot Six experiments without powers and is therefore a loose end. King intersperses this with flashbacks to Vicky (Andy’s wife, Charlie’s mom) being murdered. Andy and Charlie are destined to be caught by pursuers from The Shop. At first, “Firestarter” has a depressingly fatalistic vibe. In a more traditional version of love, we have a sweet father-daughter bond. He sees this action as the greatest form of love in this cruel world. His end goal is to watch the life leave her eyes. That especially applies to “Cap” Hollister, the leader of the experiments on the McGees, who for much of the book are held captive at a rural Virginia facility that calls to mind the “X-Men” TV series “The Gifted.”īut the most fascinating villain is John Rainbird, an assassin who poses as a low-level orderly and gains Charlie’s trust. Setting: New York, Vermont and Virginia, 1980 The answer is chillingly mundane: It’s their job, and they don’t want to lose it. The book is never lecture-y, but King – inspired by real-life accounts of the USA and USSR experimenting on citizens - paints a detailed picture of how The Shop can get away with this, and why its employees do horrible things.

On the “external” side, “Firestarter” is a stealth critique of big governments. But the book is more about what these powers mean for the McGees – internally and externally. Certainly, King has a raw interest in pyrokinesis (as exhibited by 8-year-old Charlie McGee) and mind control (as exhibited by her father, Andy). At nearly 500 pages, “Firestarter” is a deeper work. Cecil L’Ively can start fires with his mind in Season 1’s “Fire,” and Robert Patrick Modell can influence people’s behavior in Season 3’s “Pusher” and Season 5’s “Kitsunegari.” The price of powersĪs good as those episodes are, though, they are mostly about the X-File of it: the weirdness of the phenomenon. Stephen King’s direct connection to “The X-Files” consists of only one episode he co-wrote, Season 5’s “Chinga.” But his 1980 novel “Firestarter” is a precursor to two “X-Files” characters.

Firestarter by stephen king