If the moments where Charlie wrestles with what it means to burn—while Andy’s “push” gnaws at his conscience—stuck with you, you’ll be gripped by Carrion Comfort. Simmons pits survivors against a cabal of psychic “mind vampires” whose Compulsions make Rainbird’s manipulation of Charlie feel chillingly plausible. It carries the same unease you felt whenever The Shop weaponized Lot Six’s fallout, but pushes the ethical stakes even further as hidden elites treat human lives like matchsticks.

Remember Andy and Charlie dodging The Shop across back roads and safe houses, always one step ahead of Rainbird? The Passage opens with FBI agent Wolgast going rogue to save Amy from Project NOAH’s experiments—an echo of Andy grabbing Charlie’s hand and running. The relentless pursuit, the improvised refuges, and the mounting dread feel like the farmhouse siege in Firestarter, stretched across a wider wasteland with breathtaking stakes.

If the behind-the-scenes machinations of The Shop—Hollister’s cold calculus and Rainbird’s covert insertion—hooked you, The Rook delivers that same flavor of bureaucratic menace with sly wit. Myfanwy Thomas wakes amid a conspiracy within the Checquy, a clandestine British service managing the supernatural. As she peels back layers of internal betrayal, you’ll recognize the weaponized memos, covert ops, and moral compromises that drove Firestarter’s most chilling orders.

Lot Six’s ugly legacy—Andy’s damaged mind and Charlie’s fire—finds a kindred mirror in The Fury, where telekinetic prodigies become targets of a clandestine government apparatus. As with Charlie’s testing and The Shop’s attempts to harness her, Farris builds tension from labs, handlers, and the catastrophic consequences when gifted teens are cornered. It’s that same blend of speculative psionics and thriller pacing that made Firestarter so propulsive.

If your heart was in your throat whenever Andy tried to shepherd Charlie through danger—teaching restraint, earning trust, and facing that final standoff—The Girl With All the Gifts will hit home. Melanie’s connection with Miss Justineau evolves under constant threat, forcing choices as fraught as Andy’s decisions about when to let Charlie unleash the fire. The emotional core is the same: love as shield and risk when the child’s gift can save—or destroy—everyone.