In this third Artemis Fowl adventure he's still plotting for a billion-dollar-plus payoff for the Fowl family, but now his enemies are human (chiefly Jon Spiro, a ruthless businessman Artemis tries to blackmail using stolen fairy technology) and he has to turn to his old adversary-turned- friend Captain Holly Short and cutpurse dwarf Mulch Diggums for help. Artemis struggles to bring his faithful bodyguard Butler back from the dead before racing Mission Impossible-style to triple-cross the double- crossing Spiro.