After his last run-in with the fairies, Artemis Fowl's mind was wiped of memories of the world belowground and any goodness grudgingly learned is now gone, with the young genius reverting to his criminal lifestyle.
When Artemis learns that his father has been kidnapped by the Russian mob, he races to the Arctic Circle to make a daring rescue, where he finds an old acquaintance, Captain Holly Short, who is investigating a plot of the goblin mob.
When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.