Genre: Fiction

I was a big fan of the Artemis Fowl series growing up and was interested to see how Eoin Colfer’s adult novels would fare in comparison. At a first glance Highfire reads unlike any of his childrens/YA novels with it’s namesake booze-drinking, adulterating dragon (with as the book would describe, very large balls which can be retracted… yes you read that right), Southern bayou slang, and a host of questionably gray characters. Not only that but the teenage human protag Everett “Squib” could be see as the polar opposite of Artemis Fowl being a school-averse, bayou exploring swamp kid with a history of getting into adolescent trouble. For anyone who has read Colfer’s other works, the colorful language and crude humor can be jarring (I personally found it highly entertaining, you can just imagine Colfer letting loose with giddy excitement with how much crass language and surpassingly violent descriptions are featured). However once the characters are introduced, I could see some of Colfer’s signature strengths and expected elements coming through. While having completely different personalities, Artemis Fowl and Squib share the same element of growing up without a fatherly learning figure and finding it within a older sassy or prickly…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. For a book titled the Plotters, I found the plot of this one ironically to be one of the weakest aspects of the novel that left me disappointed. I love the character dialogue and the protagonist Reseng is quite the relatable anti-hero who was cast into and doesn’t know what life is like outside the dark world of assassins. This is very much a book where the journey is deemed more important than the destination as The Plotters sets up a fascinating scene and takes a good stab at the world of political corruption, underhanded deals, and what money can buy (pun intended). Reseng gets tangled up with a plot to overthrow the status quo of the hitman industry but the book never resolves the plotlines it sets up. He goes through a period of self-reflection and discovery as things go from bad to worse and ends with a moment of grandeur for Reseng similar to the climax of a movie where an epilogue would normally kick in showing the aftermath of the events. Except there isn’t one…

Note: My original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned.

Note: My original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned.

Note: My original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned.