Firestarter
First published: 1980
Characters
"Andy could feel something building in the air, building up around Charlie like an electric charge. The hair on his arms suddenly began to stir and move, like kelp in an invisible tide. He looked down at her and saw her face, so small, now so strange.
It's coming, he thought helplessly. It's coming, oh my God, it really is."
In 1969 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 after that their little girl, Charlie, sets her teddy bear on fire . . . by looking 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 and terrifying chase that ranges from the streets of New York to the backwoods of Vermont. And once they get her they plan to use Charlie's capacity for love to force her into developing a power as horrifyingly destructive as it is seductive. What they don't take into account is that even a child can know the pleasure of the whip hand and the satisfaction of revenge.
Characters
| Alfalfa | Character in The Little Rascals |
| Bimbo | Granther McGee's dog |
| Bossy | Cow of Irv Manders |
| Dr. Cyclops | Movie character mentioned by Quincey Tremont |
| Necromancer | Black gelding that Charlie McGee rode in the Shop grounds. |
| ?, Carl | Brother of Deenie |
| ?, Cora | Aunt of Andy McGee. |
| ?, Deenie | Sister of Carl and friend of Charlie McGee. |
| ?, Duane | Worked at the front desk of the Shop |
| ?, Gary | Spoke to Charlie McGee over the intercom at the Shop. |
| ?, George | Former boyfriend of Vicky Tomlinson |
| ?, Gloria | Captain Hollister's new secretary |
| ?, Glynis | Girlfriend of the cab driver that took Andy and Charlie McGee to Albany. |
| ?, Helga | Works on the checkout of the A&P in Hastings Glen. |
| ?, Henry | Walked the horses at the Shop |
| ?, Josie | Worked on the front desk at the Shop. |
| ?, Michael | Young boy at the rest stop where Andy McGee rescued Charlie from the Shop agents. |
| ?, Mike | Owner of a Diner in Hastings Glen. |
| ?, Rachel | Worked for Cap Hollister at the Shop |
| ?, Richard | Shop agent and receptionist |
| ?, Shelley | Mentioned in passing. |
| ?, Steve | Shop agent |
| ?, Tom | Shop agent |
| Albright, Dick | A test case for Andy McGee in The Shop. |
| Ayatollah Khomeni | He was going to be one of the targets of Charlie McGee once the Shop traine |
| Bacon, ? | Husband of Eileen. |
| Bacon, Eileen | Neighbor of the McGee's. |
| Barclay, Hortense | Best friend of Shirley McKenzie |
| Bates, Norville | Works for The Shop. |
| Baxter, Ralph | 35 Year old Shop employee who administered Lot 6 to the test subjects. |
| Bixby, Jerome | Author of "It's a Good Life" |
| Bono, Sonny | Watched on TV by Andy McGee |
| Brackman, ? | Washington General |
| Braddock, Clayton | Shop agent |
| Bradford, Mr. | Father of Sally |
| Bradford, Sally | Girlfriend of Eddie Delgardo. |
| Breedlove, Don | Brother of Norma Breedlove. |
| Breedlove, Milo | Uncle of Norma and Don Breedlove |
| Breedlove, Norma | Maiden name of Norma Manders, and sister of Don Breedlove |
| Burton, Frank | Fake name used by Andy McGee |
| Burton, Roberta (Bobbi) | Fake name used by Charlie McGee |
| Carson, Johnny | Andy McGee watched him on TV |
| Castenada, Carlos | Writer |
| Castro, Fidel | He was going to be one of the targets of Charlie McGee once the Shop trained her |
| Cobham, Bill | 56 year old Postmaster in Teller |
| Cook, Bruce | Shop agent |
| Cunningham, Lena | Wife of Sam. Owner of the Slumberland Motel. |
| Cunningham, Sam | Husband of Lena. Owner of the Slumberland Motel |
| Delgardo, Eddie | Boyfriend of Sally Bradford. A Soldier |
| Devine, Shirley | A letter was sent from her to her sister from the Bradford mailbox. |
| Douray, Mr. | Man in Port City that made his own bread |
| Drabble, Peter | Head groom at the Shop |
| Drew, Fred | Nephew of Irv Manders in Kansas. |
| Dreyfuss, Richard | Actor mentioned in passing |
| Dugan, Joan | Mother of Terri Dugan |
| Dugan, Terri | Friend of Charlie McGee and daughter of Joan Dugan. |
| Eberhardt, Chuckie | Boy in Harrison |
| Everett, Robert | Mailman in Teller that collected the mail in Bradford. |
| Flynn, Mrs. | Neighbor of McGee's and lived on Laurel Lane |
| Folsom, Richard (Dick) | Major Puckeridge's aide. |
| Franklin, Benjamin | Mentioned in passing |
| Gordon, Johnny | Friend and neighbor of Irv Manders |
| Grabowski, Don | Worked with Andy McGee |
| Green, Joe | Football player mentioned in passing |
| Gurney, Mrs. | Wife of Stan. |
| Gurney, Stan | Husband of Mrs Gurney |
| Hackett, Buddy | Comedian that Andy watched on TV |
| Hammond, ? | Neighbor of the McGee's and lived on Laurel Lane |
| Harris, Franco | Football player mentioned in passing |
| Hockstetter, Patrick | Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist that worked for the Shop |
| Hofferitz, Karl | Doctor called by Irv Manders |
| Hollister, Captain (Cap) | Head of the Shop, who wanted to use Charlie's talents to influence world leaders. |
| Hollister, Georgia | Wife of Cap. |
| Hollister, Leon | Brother of Cap. |
| Howells, William Dean | American Writer mentioned in passing |
| Hyuck, Bradford | Wrote a memo about Charlie McGee burning down a cinderblock wall. |
| Jamieson, Orville (OJ or The Juice) | Works for the Shop. |
| Joad, ? | Family mentioned in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" |
| Johnson, Arte | Comedian mentioned in passing |
| Jory, Victor | Albert Steinowitz was sometimes mistaken for Victor Jory |
| Jules, Don | Worked for the Shop |
| Kelleher, Mike | Spoke to Charlie McGee over the intercom at the Shop |
| Kennedy, Ted | He was going to be one of the targets of Charlie McGee once the Shop trained her |
| Knowles, Ray | Shop agent |
| Lawrence, D.H. | Author mentioned in passing |
| Loman, Willy | Character in the play "Death of a Salesman" |
| Manders, Irv | Farmer that helped Andy and Charlie McGee |
| Manders, Norma | Wife of Irv. Married name of Norma Breedlove |
| Mandroski, ? | Irv Manders' grandparents' last name, changed to Manders when they came to USA |
| Mayo, John | Shop agent |
| McCauley, Roberta | Name given to Karl Hoffernitz as Charlie McGee's name by the Manders |
| McGee, Andrew (Andy) | Charlie's father and husband of Vicky. |
| McGee, Charlene Roberta (Charlie) | The 7 year old Firestarter that was the daughter of Andy and Vicky. |
| McGee, Fibber | Mentioned in passing |
| McGee, Granther | Grandfather of Andy. Husband of Hulda. |
| McGee, Hulda | Wife of Granther. |
| McGee, Vicky | Charlie's mother and Andy's wife. |
| McKenzie, Shirley | Housekeeper and lover of Dr Hofferitz |
| McKeon, Rich | Gardener at the Shop |
| McKinley, ? | Former President of the USA. |
| Merle, Mr. | Executive that went to Andy McGee for confidence boosting. |
| Milton, John | Author of Paradise Lost |
| Mishkin, Mrs. | Charlie McGee's teacher |
| Moore, Sam | Owner of a gravel pit |
| Neary, ? | Worked for The Shop, and monitored Charlie McGee's room |
| Noftzieger, Dr. | Chief of computers at The Shop. |
| Norton, T.B. | Shift supervisor of John Rainbird |
| Nutter, Dr. | Dr Pynchot's assistant. |
| O'Brian, Ev | Worked with Andy McGee in the English Department. |
| Parks, Ray | Friend and neighbor of Irv Manders |
| Pasioco, David | Friend of Terri Dugan, and went to school with Charlie McGee |
| Pasioco, Mr. | Father of David Pasioco |
| Patton, George S. | General whose picture was on Cap Hollister's wall. |
| Paulson, Jim | Gave Andy and Charlie McGee a lift to Hastings Glen |
| Payson, Charles | Shop agent. Owned "Notions and Novelties" |
| Puckeridge, Victor | Major at Andrews Air Force Base. |
| Pynchot, Dr. Herman | Doctor at the Shop that watched Andy and Charlie McGee. |
| Rainbird, John | Shop operative and assassin. |
| Rammaden, G.M. | Safe cracker |
| Raucher, Mr. | Old man that owned a delicatessen in New York and played chess with Andy McGee |
| Richardson, James | One of the subjects in the Lot 6 test group. |
| Rowley, Jake | Owner of Bradford General Store |
| Rozelle, Bruce | Name Andy McGee used in the Motel at Hastings Glen |
| Sedaka, George | Partner of Orv Jamieson |
| Silver, Long John | Dreamed of by Andy McGee |
| Smith, Kathy | Best friend of Vicky Tomlinson in first grade. Maiden name of Kathy Worthy |
| Smith, Winston | Character in George Orwell's 1984 |
| Steinbeck, John | Wrote "The Grapes of Wrath" |
| Steinham, Ralph | Dartan Pharmaceutical representative. |
| Steinowitz, Albert | Shop agent in charge of the capture of Andy and Charlie McGee. |
| Tarkington, Whitney | Government adjuster |
| Thompson, Senator | Involved with "Project Leap" with the Shop |
| Tomlinson, Vicky | Maiden name of Vicky McGee |
| Traegger, Christine | Best friend of Hortense Barclay |
| Tranter, Louis | Spoke to Charlie McGee over the intercom at the Shop |
| Tremont, Quincy | Told Andy McGee about the Lot 6 test. |
| Upmore, Tammy | Friend of Vicky McGee |
| Van Gogt, A.E. | Wrote "The Weapon Shop of Isher", after which the Shop was named. |
| Vivaldi | Composer mentioned in passing |
| Wallace, Bill | Worked with Andy McGee in the English department |
| Wanless, ? | Brother of Joseph that died of lung cancer. |
| Wanless, Dr. Joseph | The Lot Six overseer. |
| Wanless, Freddy | Son of ? Wanless. Nephew of Joseph. |
| Waring, George | One of the Shop agents that kidnapped Charlie McGee |
| Wayne, Duke | Actor mentioned in passing |
| Worthy, Frank | Husband of Kathy |
| Worthy, Kathy | Married name of Kathy Smith. Wife of Frank. |
| Wyeth, ? | Painter mentioned in passing |
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