S t e p h e n
KING
FIRESTARTER
Warner Books
'It was a pleasure to burn.'
— Ray Bradbury, FAHRENHEIT 451
A Warner Book
First published in Great Britain in 1980
by Macdonald & Co
Published by Futura Publications in 1981
Reprinted 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 (twice), 1985,
1986 (twice), 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 (twice)
This edition published by Warner Books in 1992
Reprinted 1993 (twice), 1994, 1996, 1998 (twice), 2000 (twice)
Copyright © Stephen King 1980
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All characters in this publication are fictitious
and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead,
is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means without the prior
written permission of the publisher, nor be
otherwise circulated in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
ISBN 0 7515 0439 4
Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Warner Books
A Division of
Little, Brown and Company (UK)
Brettenham House
Lancaster Place
London WC2E 7EN
In memory of Shirley Jackson,
who never needed to raise her voice.
The Haunting of Hill House
The Lottery
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Sundial
New York/Albany
1
'Daddy, I'm tired,' the little girl in the red pants and the green blouse said fretfully. 'Can't
you stop?'
'Not yet, honey.'
He was a big, broad-shouldered man in a worn and scuffed corduroy jacket and plain
brown twill slacks. He and the little girl were holding hands and walking up Third
Avenue in New York City, walking fast, almost running. He looked back over his
