Could this be Artemis Fowl's last caper? His father, who was rescued from the Russian Mafia in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (2002), seems to have turned over a new leaf. But Artemis resolves to do one last job, a job that involves a supercomputer cube he created with stolen fairy technology. Things go totally awry, however, when his proposed pigeon--a billionaire American businessman--turns the tables and Artemis' longtime bodyguard, Butler, is fatally shot. Artemis puts Butler on ice, literally, and calls on Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon fairy police for help. The existence of the cube is a threat to the fairy world, and Artemis concocts a convoluted scheme to recover it. As in the previous two books in the series, the action is fast and furious, the humor is abundant, characterizations are zany, and the boy genius works wonders--all of which add up to another wild ride for Artemis' fans.

Artemis and Captain Holly Short are at it again, this time attempting to thwart the evil Spiro's theft of an ingenious device Artemis has designed that (inadvertently) puts the fairy world in danger. There's plenty of snappy dialogue, badass posturing, and blow-by-blow fight scenes, but by the end the characters and story are right back where they started, which means that the next book in the series is completely free to do the same thing all over again.

Gr 5-8-Antihero Artemis Fowl, now 13 years old, is back. He has used stolen fairy technology to create a supercomputer known as the "C Cube," which will render all existing technology obsolete. He meets with Jon Spiro, head of "Fission Chips," with a proposition. For a price, he will suppress his cube, and allow Spiro time to sell his potentially worthless stocks and buy into Fowl Industries. Spiro double-crosses Artemis, and in the ensuing melee he steals the C Cube and Artemis's bodyguard, Butler, is murdered. The scene is totally out of James Bond; one fully expects to hear the familiar theme music and to see the credits as it concludes. The action does not let up as Artemis teams with the fairy policewoman Captain Holly Short and other companions to bring Butler back to life, and then to retrieve the Cube from Spiro's Chicago fortress. The plot is filled with crosses and double crosses, unmarked vans, and impenetrable security systems. It's exciting stuff, but the writing is often clich d at worst, and merely workmanlike at best. Butler's death scene is particularly hackneyed, echoing every overly dramatic death scene one can think of. Still, this latest adventure is sure to be popular with fans of the series.-Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.