From the Publisher
"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)
"A fun, unusual contemporary fantasy." — Kirkus Reviews
“A twisty, tongue-in-cheek fantasy that’s part thriller, part action movie, and wholly irreverent. . . . Colfer’s catchy narrative voice suits the characters and their setting perfectly, capturing Vern’s world-weary nature, Squib’s youthful adaptability, and Hooke’s malicious cunning. This no-holds-barred yarn is good fun from start to finish.” — Publishers Weekly
“Briskly entertaining…With this satisfying and at times hugely joyous novel, Colfer is, like his engaging scaly protagonist, cooking on gas.” — Guardian
Entertainment Weekly
"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)."
Booklist (starred review)
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?
Guardian
Briskly entertaining…With this satisfying and at times hugely joyous novel, Colfer is, like his engaging scaly protagonist, cooking on gas.
Kirkus Reviews
2019-10-27
An accident-prone teenage boy named Squib forms an unlikely friendship with a dragon living in a Louisiana bayou.
Squib Moreau can't catch a break. His kindhearted single mother, Elodie, works long hours as a nurse, and when she's not worrying about what her son is up to, she's fighting off the advances of the local constable, Regence Hooke. Elodie and Squib both get the feeling that Hooke is something more dangerous than a sleazy cop, and they're right: He's murderous, corrupt, and out to take over the local drug-running business. When Squib sees something he shouldn't late at night out on the water and Hooke goes after him with a grenade launcher, Squib suddenly finds himself being rescued by a dragon. The dragon in question, Vern (short for "Wyvern, Lord Highfire"), believes he is the last of his kind and lives in secret deep in the swamp. Vern holds a centuries-old grudge against the race that killed off his fellow dragons but finds himself in need of a helper, or "familiar." Vern may be a dragon, but he has a taste for TV, vodka, Flashdance T-shirts, and all sorts of things he can't get for himself. Vern reluctantly lets Squib work for him, and over time they develop a camaraderie. But when Hooke sees Vern for himself, he decides to use Squib to force the dragon to do some of his dirty work. Colfer's best-known writing is geared toward young adults (The Fowl Twins, 2019, etc.), but between some of the gorier scenes and Hooke's sinister inner monologue, you wouldn't know it. He writes this book in a folksy Louisiana voice that drawls right off the page: "Squib was as jumpy as a cat in a doghouse traversing the river." Vern's taste for modern life (he's on the Keto diet) is clever, and he is a prickly but lovable foil to the unholy terror that is Constable Hooke.
A fun, unusual contemporary fantasy that doesn't skimp on violence.
