Highfire - by Eoin Colfer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"True Detective meets Swamp Thing in the Artemis Fowl author's neo-noirish thriller about a curmudgeonly dragon in Louisiana."--The Guardian

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 fifteen-year-old troublemaker on the run from a crooked sheriff--now available as a limited limited Olive Edition from Harper Perennial.

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 La-Z-Boy recliner. Wyvern, Lord Highfire, of the Highfire Eyrie, who once struck fear in hearts far and wide, is reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binge-watching Netflix in a fishing shack. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon, yet 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. He's finally decided to work for a shady smuggler--but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by crooked constable Regence Hooke.

When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself most unexpectedly rescued by a real live dragon.

The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as Vern's go-between in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation in which dragons either finally become extinct--or Vern's glory days are back.

The full set of books in the 2026 Olive Editions series include:

• Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
• Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Island by Aldous Huxley
• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker
• Highfire by Eoin Colfer
• The World Wasn't Ready for You by Justin Key

Review Quotes

"A fun, unusual contemporary fantasy." - Kirkus Reviews

"The anticipated adult novel from Colfer, best known for the Artemis Fowl series, features more of that wild imagination that loyal readers have come to love (in this case, a dragon who loves vodka, Flashdance, and his Laz-Z-Boy recliner crossing paths with a troublemaking swamp rat)." - Entertainment Weekly

"Author of the popular Artemis Fowl books for kids, Colfer has turned his attention to adult fiction to good effect, writing a delightfully funny page-turner with plenty of crossover appeal to teens and sprinkled with genial turns of phrase: alligators' jaws are "wide like Satan's hedge clippers"; Hooke is "distributing more mess than a group of finger painting toddlers on a Skittles sugar high." Colfer has conjured up voices redolent of the Deep South and delightfully profane. And the characters are simply terrific. But what about those alligators?" - Booklist (starred review)