Editorial Content for Highfire
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Reviewer (text)
“You are about to learn what happens when you poke a dragon.”
Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) crafted the bestselling Artemis Fowl young adult series, in addition to zany hardboiled detective lore, PLUGGED and SCREWED. Colfer’s return to adult fiction somewhat combines the subtle horror of Dave Zeltserman’s THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD, the witty crime-humor of Rob Leininger’s Gumshoe series, and the intense paramilitary intrigue by New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap.
A modern-day Huckleberry Finn, Everett “Squib” Moreau projects “a scrappy attitude that had him on the cops’ radar.” At age 15, he’s “a swamp-wild, street-smart, dark-eyed Cajun-blood young man with a momma driven to near despair.”
"Thronged with dragon-sized metaphors, Peter Pan fans will adore the cheeky imagery and characters in this irreverent fantasy."
Squib films a surreptitious image of refrigerator-sized Constable Regence Hooke strong-arming a bayou moonshine runner to use as leverage. “Ain’t nuthin’ can go wrong.” But it does. Big time. The video records murder. Squib plays “fast and loose with the second commandment,” his blasphemous vocal cords calling out a few other choice expletives. Oops! The big cop has big ears.
Hooke sees “a figure hightail it into the island with the green glow of a phone in his hand” and must eradicate the threat. He lobs an incendiary device at the isle. Boom! The blast attracts Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie.
Squib is airlifted from certain death, in “what could be fairly described as a supersonic wedgie.” But come on! By a fire-breathing Gojira-like apex predator dragon who wears a Flashdance T-shirt and sips Absolut martinis?
“Vern hates humans, hates them big-time.” Isolation and vodka cause depression in the near-extinct dragon: “I don’t wanna go out and I don’t wanna stay in.” Benevolent when needed, he “did his best Jack Nicholson for the only squirrel on the island with enough nuts to sit on his windowsill.” One whiff of dragon breath could roast the rodent’s acorns. “Vern carried hell around inside him, so he could survive it.”
Thronged with dragon-sized metaphors, Peter Pan fans will adore the cheeky imagery and characters in this irreverent fantasy. Instead of Captain Hook, there’s Constable Hooke. Karma seems to be a character. Dastardly deeds come back to bite Hooke --- and not figuratively. This is Squib’s coming-of-age tale, the boy who does grow up. A huge high five to HIGHFIRE.
Walt Disney Pictures will release a film version of Artemis Fowl in May 2020. Hopefully, HIGHFIRE is destined for sequels and a film adaptation. Please?
Bookreporter.com’s Dean Murphy was born during the Chinese zodiac’s significant sign, Water Dragon.
Teaser
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs. Now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie. Now he goes by Vern. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive and has finally decided to work for a shady smuggler. But on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable. Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
Promo
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs. Now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie. Now he goes by Vern. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive and has finally decided to work for a shady smuggler. But on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable. Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
About the Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series comes a hilarious and high-octane adult novel about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who lives an isolated life in the bayous of Louisiana --- and the raucous adventures that ensue when he crosses paths with a 15-year-old troublemaker on the run from a crooked sheriff.
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs --- now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie --- now he goes by Vern. However...he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern’s glory days are long gone. Or are they?
A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He’s finally decided to work for a shady smuggler --- but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.
Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he’s a despicable human being --- who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar) --- fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc. --- in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There’s about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct --- or Vern’s glory days are back.
A triumphant return to the genre-bending fantasy that Eoin Colfer is so well known for, HIGHFIRE is an effortlessly clever and relentlessly funny tour-de-force of comedy and action.
Audiobook available, read by Johnny Heller
