Which 1980 Stephen King novel begins with a firestarter named Charlie McGee?

The 1980 Stephen King novel that begins with firestarter Charlie McGee is Firestarter.

Firestarter follows Charlene “Charlie” McGee, a young girl with powerful pyrokinetic abilities—the capacity to create and control fire with her mind. She and her father, Andy McGee, spend much of the novel fleeing The Shop, a secretive government agency seeking to exploit their abilities.

Charlie’s powers originate in an experiment involving “Lot 6,” a drug administered to Andy and Charlie’s mother, Victoria. The adults develop limited psychic abilities, while their daughter inherits a dramatically stronger power. The novel opens in the middle of the action, with Charlie and Andy already on the run from The Shop.

Firestarter was first published by Viking Press on September 29, 1980, and was dedicated to Shirley Jackson. It was adapted into a 1984 film starring Drew Barrymore and remade in 2022. The other options are separate King novels: The Dead Zone, The Tommyknockers, and Carrie.