LJ 12/01/2019

PW 11/03/2019

Kirkus 11/15/2019

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, Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie, who 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, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He finally decides 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 also a despicable human being who wants 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 Vern's 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 dragons either finally become 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. --,Inside cover.