After having done a marathon session yesterday I have now been relegated to sitting with my legs stretched out on the sofa instead of in the normal seating position. reason being that my RH gluteus maximus is absolutely killing me when sitting on a regular chair, walking and reaching up. the way I am sitting/lounging now seems to be the only seating position that does not make me flinch every 2 seconds. I will have to get up a few times whilst writing this review as the muscle seems to get tense and achy. I think I may have to take up a subscription to Square One as I seem to be heading there on a regular basis lately. At least my fingers are still functioning well...
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Firestarter - Stephen King
I was aware of a movie made from this novel back in the day but I never sat down and watched it. I did remember the title so when I came across it a few months ago I decided to pick it up to see what it was like.
Well... it is a cracking read.
As I by now have come to expect of King it kicks into action from the start and it does not really let up until the last page and even then it leaves you wanting more. The story starts with a father (Andy) and daughter (Charlie) on the run from some shady guys in New York. You are not surw why but you feel sympathy for them from the start. You learn quite quickly that Andy has got some special abilities and you automatically think they must be after him. But... turns out they are actually after Charlie and what she can do. In the first half of the book you find out bit by bit how Andy got his power, how he met Charlie's mum and how they ended up on the run. It is safe to say that Charlie's powers are far more destructive than her dad's. They also take less out of her. Andy seems to be at the end of his powers whereas Charlie is still coming into her own.
The whole book is a tale of two people on the run from a shady government organisation. They go on the run, they almost get found, they get found, they manage to escape they find a safe haven, they get re-captured, they live in captivity, they escape. Sounds kind of repetitive but with all the characters you meet it is a great ride to be on with Andy and Charlie.
Andy used to be a suburbia kind of guy. He had the wife, the kid, the job and the house with a mortgage. Because of some misunderstanding from some trigger happy government employee his life is turned upside down and he is now forced to live from hand to mouth and drift from one job into another. He is still trying to help people where he can but there is not a lot of stability he can give Charlie.
Charlie is a lovely, innocent little girl who knows she is special and does not really want to use her powers but has to at times. The great thing about her is to see her struggle about using her power. At one point she never wants to use them again but she is placed into a situation where she has to. It both scares her to feel it's power and part of her actually likes the havoc she can wreak. Charlie is a lovely character and deserves to be the focus of the story. She is only a little girl trying to make sense of what she feels and can do. She is the innocent child that deserves protection but is only seen by some as a tool to use. She is well written and you see her grow up a little in the book and I think she will grow up to be a fine young woman.
As far as learning curves go Andy finds out that just as you thought that you might as well give up a little solitary contemplation in the dark goes a long way. Charlie finds out the hard way not to trust the first kind soul that she meets. Sometimes when it looks evil it is actually evil.
Some of the things in the book are the standard good versus evil stuff. Andy and Charlie are good, kind, upstanding people. They tend to meet good upstanding people who help them on their travels.They just want to be left alone to get on with their lives.
They are pursued by the bad guys who belong to a shady organisation called The Shop. They seem to have more eyes and ears across the USA than the CIA or FBI combined. They are always watching and relentless in their pursuit of Andy and Charlie. They have the obligatory clever leader (elderly, shrewd, looks like a kind grandad) and they employ the obligatory strong and mysterious bad guy (madman native American with a wish to see death in people's eyes). Fortunately, for once it ends bad for all the bad guys. Their headquarters is blown to bits and their organisation is exposed with all it's faults.... although they are not completely obliterated. It does not end well for Andy but you kind of expected that. And as for Charlie... well... I think she will do just fine.
As I said earlier, it is a great read it has a great pace and the story and it's characters are engaging and likable. Even the bad ass bad guy has some redeeming features in him. The ending gave me a real chuckle and I will not spoil it for you but if you ever need to know where to go with a big news story check page 509!
Title: Firestarter
Author: Stephen King
510 pages
Futura
ISBN nr 0-7088-2101-4
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