Artemis Fowl

And finally...the troublemaker...the bad boy...every group needs a criminal mastermind, and for "Harry's Homeboys" that kid is Artemis Fowl.

The best thing about Artemis Fowl is that he doesn't start out as a "good guy". I guess the official term is probably "anti-hero" but even though he is cold, cynical, and doesn't appear to care about anyone, you can't help but like him.  Throughout the series, he thaws out and becomes a real hero.  Ironically, however, it isn't humans that help Artemis find his humanity--it's fairies.

Yes, that's right, fairies. Tough, combat-boot wearing, armed and dangerous, magical flying fairies.  The whole adventure starts when Artemis kidnaps a fairy and holds her for ransom in order to rebuild his family fortune.  Artemis is always two steps ahead, but this time he has seriously underestimated his enemy...

If you haven't read the Artemis Fowl series, it's about time to start.  Eoin Colfer is a great writer (I'll spotlight his stand-alone book "Airman" another day), and Artemis' story is exciting, complex, and will keep you turning pages through all eight books.

Here are their titles:

#1 Artemis Fowl
#2 Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
#3 Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code
#4 Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
#5 Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony
#6 Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox
#7 Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex
#8 Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian

Oh, and one more thing...This is an awesome song I found on Youtube:  "Call Me Artemis Fowl". I don't know how well it really matches up with the style of the books, but it's just so dang catchy!  I was reading the comments below and this one made me laugh: Ha ha "I never started this" we all know that's a lie--well said "Julia May", well said.