In Stephen King's The Fire-Starter, King uses two main literary devices throughout the story. The two literary devices that King uses the best are flashback and a lot of suspense.
Several times throughout the story, King uses flashbacks to tell the background of his story. One example, "Safe and at rest, for the first time since New York City. For the first time since the Shop had come back into their lives on that terrible August day Fourteen months ago." King goes on to tell what it was that the main characters, Andy McGee and his eight year old daughter Charlie McGee, have been running and hiding from since the horrible event that happened that day in August.
The other literary device that King uses to help make his story better is suspense. Throughout the story, King several times leads slowly up to certain events. As the suspense builds, the reader is led to wonder what will be the outcome of the situation. One example of suspense would on the Mander's farm "Three of the Shop men had come up the front steps of the porch and were now standing less than ten yards away from Andy and Charlie, to their left. Charlie threw them a warning, desperate glance and they stopped-- for the moment. 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 face and saw her face, so small, now so strange. It's coming. He thought helplessly. It's coming, Oh my God it really is. Get out! He shouted at Al. Don't you understand what she's going to do? Can't you feel it? Don't be a fool man!" The reader can interpret that Charlie is about to do something as the suspense continues to build. In using these two literary devices, King makes his book even better.
One thing that King could use that would make his story better, is realism. King refers many times in this book to people who just by thinking about it, can light fires and "push" people into doing and thinking what they want them to do or think. Therefore, this story is a little far fetched. If King had used more realism, and made people think that maybe what he wrote about could actually happen more people would like to read it. If something is totally unbelievable, many people will not be as excited and therefore as interested.