After reading some of the reviews of this book other people gave, I thought it would be best I join in and give my opinion. Personally, I like this book ,and I would read it again. Artemis Fowl the Second is a criminal mastermind who badly needs to fund his wealthy family at the young age of twelve hid father has disappeared, and his mother is in a terrible mental state. So Artemis turns to the Fairy World for their unwitting help. He takes an agent from their underground police, LEPrecon, and holds her for a large amount of ransom in fairy gold. Both sides of the conflict make risky moves, but it's a battle of wit that ultimately decides the victor. 
 Some people complain about the "sense of Irish nationalism" (I couldnt find that anywhere in this book though), or the jabs at humans that destroy nature in this book, but really, any child who doesnt understand the meaning of it will skip it and continue reading eagerly because, like I said, its a great book. While this book shows only a small amount of character development in the ruthless Artemis Fowl the Second, the books that follow prove to make up for whatever this one lacked. All in all, a great book.