Highfire (A Novel)

“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