Review - The Dragon's Prisoner by Holly Day

Kaspar is a thief. He’s very good at picking locks and stealing valuables from people’s homes. It’s not a life he would have chosen, but as an orphaned child on the streets, the other options were far worse. He ends up working for a crime boss who runs drugs and brothels. Things Kasper doesn’t want to be associated with. To get out, the boss orders him to do one last job: steal something valuable from a jewelry shop called The Dragon’s Treasure in Edge city. Saxon runs a jewelry shop along Dragon’s Row, a street of shops run by the exiled dragons who make Edge city home. It’s a dull existence and humans are stupid. When he catches a thief trying to steal from him, Saxon’s life gets more exciting than he may want.

This story is set in a fantasy world where dragons are real, at least in one small city, for which the presence of them is its only claim to fame. The dragons conform to much of the popular lore about them - ill tempered treasure hoarders. The time period for this fantasy world is a bit vague. Dragons naturally make you think medieval, but there’s talk of paper money and then Kaspar makes a telephone call. The time mystery is very minor but slightly jarring when you encounter things that make you rethink the world you’ve imagined.

The point of view alternates between Kaspar and Saxon. The dragon gets to make several humorous observations about silly human foibles and nonsensical turns of phrases. Saxon may not be human, but his emotional reactions are familiar enough to make him a very empathetic character.

Kaspar is a lovable rogue. He may have fallen in with a bad crowd, but he has a good heart. His slow-burn attraction to Saxon is held back by guilt and fear. He has seen what the dragon can do. Things change very quickly — perhaps a little too unrealistically quickly — once Kaspar decides to give in to his attraction.

“The Dragon's Prisoner” is available from Amazon (commissionable link).