“Ho Chi Mihn City in the summer.”

From Eion Colfer’s Artemis Fowl.

Artemis Fowl is brilliant, rich, criminal mastermind… and he’s not even a teenager yet. Living in Ireland, he has used his intelligence and family’s wealth to plan a wide number of successful crimes, but none have been as bold as his latest venture, which is to find the secret world of fairies, goblins, and other magical creatures for his financial benefit.  With the help of his faithful bodyguard Butler, Artemis is able to find a fairy that will work as a ransom victim, but Artemis unexpectedly sets off a chain of events wilder than he ever could have expected. Captain Holly Short is a member of the LEPrecon Police unit and a skilled officer in the magic world, but while investigating she is lured into a trap by Artemis and held prisoner for the traditional large amount of gold. Artemis has planned for every outcome and trick and is prepared to wait for the ransom money that will restore his family fortune, but below the surface, Holly’s boss Julius Root is stepping away from the rules by temporarily freeing a criminal dwarf (Mulch) to stop the human boy from destroying their way of life forever. Artemis isn’t playing fair and things quickly spin out of his control, but the young criminal won’t go down without a fight.

The first book in Colfer’s fantasy series (and the basis for the soon-to-be Disney movie) is a fast-paced adventure filled with all kinds of humor and magic.  Artemis and Holly are the perfect main characters, playing well off each other as polar opposites; the other characters are diverse and multi-layered, which gives the story an solid footing for the series.  There are lots of developments that build throughout the story to make Artemis Fowl a hard-to-put-down book.