THE PLOT
Firestarter as I already said is one of the best books Stephen King ever wrote. It is a gripping tail about mainly the paranormal drug “Lot-Six” and what it has done to the lives of Andy Mc’Gee, his future wife: Vicki and their lovely young daughter to be Charlie.
It all began when Andy’s roommate suggested the idea of being a Guinea-pig for the department of psychology in their collage. Andy, being in the need of a few extra bucks accepted the offer, and so found himself lying on an experiment table with about twelve other test-subjects. One of them, of course Vicki. Like any old Hollywoodic movie they fall in-love However, non of it was as simple as it may look. Andy and Vicki were injected with the drug “lot-six” which is supposed to be an hallucinogenic drug, but as it reviles later, is much—much more.
After the experiment Andy discovers that he has the power to control people’s thinking, he calls it the push. The story is actually a sequence of flashbacks to the past. While the story is taking place during Andy and Charlie’s run from the shop people (the shop people being special agents trained to captured Andy and Charlie). As I said before the story is actually a collection of beats and pieces of Andy and Charlie’s memories during their run. From these beats and pieces we get the “big picture” so to speak, when actually at the start the reader doesn’t actually know the two characters on the run.
So… what is “the big picture”?! – During the “lot-six” experiment Andy and Vicki experienced what seems to be a telepathic ability. This experience brings them together, they share their past life, hopes for future and so on. Of course, fall madly in love. They get married and after a while a baby pops to their lives. They live their life normally, unaware they are being watched and bugged all the time by government agents . Now, I say unaware but actually Andy had his suspicions about that but refused to believe it. Now you ask your self why should the government or should I be more specific, the shop, watch a completely ordinary couple and their lovely blond hair girl. The answer is as complicated as dynasty itself, but I’ll try to summaries it to its major details.
Andy and Vicki were injected, as I said, with the lot six , it is a drug which supposed to work on your pituitary glands which are responsible for a large quantity of bodily functions half of which we still don’t understand. After the experiment both of them had a low level of psychic powers, that if overused caused (Mostly Andy, Vicki wasn’t aware of her powers) the user a great deal of pain – headache mostely, However their genes mutated and combined in the process of making Charlie. therefor giving her a great deal of power and the ability of using it, painlessly. The U.S. government or mainly the shop, wants to see how those powers work as a matter of national security (or so they say). This process involves cutting, slicing and dicing, non of which are desired by Andy, Vicki nor Charlie.
The running begins when Charlie is sent to a friend to stay over for two nights, and the shop agents which kept the Mc’ Gees under surveillance lose track of Charlie and get panicked. They thought that they have discovered their surveillance and sent Charlie to the “underground”.
The shop agents come to the Mc’Gees house while Andy is away and torture Vicki so she will tell them where Charlie is. In the process they kill her. Andy gets a weird feeling while he is at work. He rushes home only to find that his beloved wife had been murdered brutally. He understands now what had happened and rushes to get Charlie to his indisposition the shop people had already gotten there first. They kidnapped Charlie and drove on. After thinking rationally and using his sixth sense he tracks them down and uses his pushing power to control the kidnappers to giving him his daughter Charlie.
The story goes on telling what happened to Charlie and Andy on the roads. Their luck with avoiding shop agents that were lurking all around corners. Until one time when their luck had run out.
They hitchhiked their way with and nice old man named Irv mandders. He offered them to come eat lunch with him and his wife. Andy had devised a story in order to escape telling Irv their real identities and getting them and Irv in trouble. They drove on not knowing that the shop agents are only one kilometer behind them repairing a flat tier.
One of the shop agents decided to go on, on foot. He went to the motel that Andy and Charlie had staid the night in and inquired about them. The woman recognized his Andy’s picture and only then the agent discovered how close they were. He immediately informed all units searching for Andy and Charlie. Road blocks were put and the passage to and out of the small town they were at was soon closed. However, Andy and Charlie decided to accept Irv’s invitation for lunch and through rugged roads they reached his house. After making a few mistakes, their cover-up story was blown. And Andy was forced to tell Irv the truth. Again not knowing that the agents put two and two together and tracked them down to Irv’s place. They sent approximately a dozen units of special shop agents to capture Charlie and …kill Andy.
As the cars approached Irv’s place, Andy realized that he and Charlie have to make a stand. And so they stood there while an entire fleet of cars surrounded them supported by Irv and his trusty rifle. They talked for a while with the agents that tried to explain that non of them would be hurt. However Charlie was not only endowed with the power of pyrokenisys (The ability to light fire spontaniously) but also with mind reading ability. She understands that the agents were going to kill Andy, her dad and IT happened. Andy felt a warm breeze on his face, and suddenly the hair of two of the agents caught fire.
A shoot was heard. Irv was shot. And them Al one of the best agents the shop had, began to go in flames. He was burned completely. And also the barn of the Mandders began to catch flames. The chickens in it were fried and confusion started to spread. All of the agents started running everywhere escaping from Charlie. Andy tried to stop her and she almost burned him when she collapsed and fainted.
That was one of the worst things Charlie had ever done and she will have regrets on that later, however, she did what she had to in order to survive.
The story continues telling the running story of Charlie and Andy, to the point they get to Andy’s grandfather old house. There, unfortunately, the shop found them again. The shop catches them and takes them to their special facility so that they can investigate their powers.
They separate Andy and Charlie but Andy pushes the captain in charge of the shop and they get to meet. But little as they know, rainbird , an experienced shop agent is waiting there to kill them both. When the captain sees him he runs away from Charlie and Andy. Rainbird instinctively fires at cap. Just as instinctively Andy pushes rainbird. “Jump, jump” he says to him. He jumps not leaving his gun.
After he falls he shoots Andy. Andy is hurt badly Charlie thinks he is dead in her rage she burns rainbird and the barn that the meeting was setup in. In the confusion she finds her dyeing father. He tells her to do what she has to do in order to get out and so the shop wont do a thing like that again. “Burn it all down” , “Make them know they’ve been in a war”. And so Charlie with her enormous powers burns the whole shop complex. This part is given in great detail but I wont go in to that.
After burning the place down to the ground she escapes to the mandder’s place. They have been good to her in the past . They put her up for few days, however, the word of the mandders keeping a strange young girl at their place, spreads quickly. And so after Charlie gets herself together she leaves the mandders’ farm. And just as well, because the shop people haven’t given up on her and they go after her and track her to the maunders’ farm.
• And so… the story ends with Charlie in a skyscraper, on her way to see a “Rolling Stone “ (the newspaper) reporter to tell him her story.