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Firestarter

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
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Publisher's summary

Stephen King's "gem of a story" (Chicago Tribune) about a child with extraordinary psychic powers who is on the run from the government. A number-one national best seller.

Andy McGee and Vicky Tomlinson participated in a drug experiment run by a veiled government agency known as The Shop. One year later, they marry. Two years later, their little girl, Charlie, sets her teddy bear on fire by simply staring at it.

Now that Charlie is eight, she doesn't start fires anymore. Her parents have taught her to control her pyrokinesis, the ability to set anything - toys, clothes, even people - aflame. But The Shop knows about and wants this pigtailed "ultimate weapon". Shop agents set out to hunt down Charlie and her father in a ruthless chase that traverses the streets of New York and the backwoods of Vermont.

"Terrifying and gripping" (The Miami Herald) Firestarter is chilling proof that "Stephen King is superb" (Time).

©1980 Stephen King (P)2010 Penguin Audio
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Featured Article: We're Your #1 Fans—A Stephen King Character Guide


With a mind-boggling portfolio of 62 novels and more than 200 short stories (and counting!), Stephen King undeniably reigns supreme over literary horror. From Danny Torrance to the dreaded Pennywise, check out some of his most iconic characters with this comprehensive look. (But beware: there are spoilers ahead! So, much like when you press play on a Stephen King audiobook, you should proceed with caution.)

What listeners say about Firestarter

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Bad editing

Great book. Editing is horrible. Constantly cutting off words and makes you question if you're hearing the entire book. This happened on more than 2 dozen occasions.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

awesome, narrator speaks fast

narrator speaks fast but otherwise awesome book, my favorite kind novel to date. I will listen to this again

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

it's a good work of Stephen King's

it's a good work of Stephen King's it's not his best but it's good Stephen King fan will understand what I mean

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Classic King, still a great story!

I really enjoyed listening to this story, having read it years ago. It is a bit simplistic in its writing, but the context is as heart wrenching as ever. Great narration too!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A classic

Took me awhile to get to this book and I'm glad I did a classic.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

classic thriller

I would call this B-level King, but since his B is higher than most people's A, it's still worth reading.

The first half is a chase and the cat and mouse game between Andy, Charlie and the Shop agents is my favorite part of the book.

The second half is more of a psychological thriller with characters manipulating each other. Its all fairly interesting, but this section felt more sluggish, even though I did love the ending.

John Rainbird is one of Kings least appreciated great villains and I really loved how King goes so deep into detail with him in ways that pushes him past a generic bad guy and into a truly terrifying character.

A good read if you're looking for a pulpy thriller.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Weird Pauses

At times, the weird pauses occur midsentance. Luckily, I knew to expect them. Other than the little interruptions, the story and performance are excellent.

It has been many years since I saw the movie, but from what I remember, it stayed true to the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read

This was better the second time around as an adult and I liked it the first time as a child

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting story

In the beginning of the book I wasn’t too interested but slowly as the story unfolded I was drawn in. I really like Charlie’s character. I liked the part in the book where we got to see Andy and Vicky meeting each other and then their experience with "Lot-6". Soooo it was an interesting book besides some of the weird racial comments but yeah

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Still a great book!

I read this book as a kid in the 80s after seeing the movie. I loved the book then, but only read it that one time. I recently had the opportunity to see the movie again (not the remake) and decided to re-read the book -- this time in audio format.

The performance was wonderful. Dennis Boutsikaris did a great job and his narration kept me engaged the entire time.

The story itself was great -- and it's aged very well. I may be in the minority when I say this, but I feel that a lot of King's more recent books are mediocre at best. They just seem... lackluster. (Of course, King is a different person now than who he was 30+ years ago -- we all are.) His older books, on the other hand, have an edge to them that his newer stories lack.

Firestarter, IMO, is classic Stephen King. Highly recommended. It's well worth the read.

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