UNDER THE KING DOME: FIRESTARTER
"She was a little girl, not a doomsday weapon." Firestarter, Stephen King
I’m a sucker for an opening on the run - the conflict has occurred, the fight or flight response has kicked off and all that tedious setup crap is negated. Hit it running, motherfather! And thus SK brings us to Andy and Charlie McGee, mid-flight, fleeing for their lives from that most adamant evil – the secret government branch.
In 1969, 22 year-old Andy McGee was a typical college student; idealistic and poor. Encouraged by a mate to participate in a psychology experiment for $200, he couldn’t resist the cash. The research involved a mild hallucinogen called Lot Six, testing for potential psychic phenomena. Also volunteering was the enchanting Vicky and long after the experiment was completed, their love endured. “They told each other things that a man and a woman don't tell each other until they've known each other for years... things a man and woman often never tell, not even in the dark marriage bed after decades of being together. But did they speak? That Andy never knew.”
Once married, Andy and Vicky gave birth to a beguiling girl named Charlie, all sunshine and smiles… and the ability to affect the balance of power on a global scale! Lot Six was a synthetic clone of a pituitary extract, possessing a painkiller-hallucinogen. Years post the experiment Vicky retained mild telekinetic abilities, while Andy exhibited moderate mental domination. And Charlie, if provoked, could burn down the house. Her genetic lottery created the Z factor. In the decade since the experiment, most of the 12 college students died. An off-the-grid US Intelligence Service called The Shop had been monitoring the participant’s progress and now it was time to bring the final chickens home to roost.
This is wicked read and one I would highly recommend if demonic gore-fest is not your cuppa. Firestarter scalds with the paranoia of government conspiracy and smoulders inside the torment of never being able to fully rest your head. The father/daughter relationship is simultaneously tender and tense with the role of guardian oscillating, depending on Andy’s strength. The backlash of his mental domination is paralysing migraines. “Thud, thud, thud, riderless black horse with red eyes coming down the halls of his mind, ironshod hooves digging up soft gray clods of brain tissue, leaving hoofprints to fill up with mystic crescents of blood.”
Witnessing Charlie come to grips with her ability echoes a puberty of sorts, although at six-years-old she should not have to face more than dance lessons and eating her greens. After levelling her rage with fatal consequences, she makes the decision to never use her power again. But The Shop has other ideas, and other weapons. So once again, Charlie is betrayed. “The anger had gusted through her - anger that was fanned by the hideous unfairness of it, the way that it never ended, the way they had of being there at every turn, blocking every lunge for escape. Almost at once she felt it start to come up from inside her. It was always so much closer to the surface now... so much more eager to come bursting out.”
This is my 7th offering from Under The King Dome and it’s about time I ventured off onto The Psycho Path… I need a little perspective on the horror thus far. As I wander down this oft-beaten path, signposted with psychos, I wonder what our fascination with the fractured nature is. Having thus far encountered psychic phenomena, religious zealots, vampires, possession, a demon in double denim and (God Bless) human beings, it’s time to sort the shits from the ghouls.
Stephen King delineates the villainous states:
The Gross-Out: Think fluids - when your insides become outsides, copious slime, blood, ooze and dismemberment.
The Horror: This is the monster oeuvre, where the unreal take corporeal form – zombies, werewolves, 1958 Plymouths.
The Terror: Someone’s behind you and they are going to rain down unmentionables on you... and the sheer terror – you know them!
Meet John Rainbird: The Terror. Hitman for The Shop, a Vietnam veteran with an imposing physique, of Cherokee descent with a ragged scar instead of an eye. He also loves shoes. I’ll leave the insights to SK, “Dealing death had always been his business and was the only trade that he ever excelled at. He became more and more interested in it as he grew older, as an artist will become more interested in the qualities and level of light, as writers will feel for their character and nuance like blind men reading braille.” The Shop engaged Rainbird’s services in dealing with the youngest McGee. He was the only one who understood she was a force beyond nature and controlling her was inviting annihilation. But he had other plans. He wanted her moment of death, the leaving of her soul, the passing of this life into whatever lay beyond.
He coveted those moments and thus created them.
Inevitably when Under The King Dome concludes there will be a list of favourites - probably a top ten list. (Kill your darlings Comerchick!) I know some solid contenders already, but I did not think Firestarter would be a starter. I stand corrected. Andy and Charlie McGee have seared my soul.
Time to take a bite out of the big dog.
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