The Arctic Incident sees theslightly older, perhaps slightly more mellow arch-criminal Artemis recoveredfrom his last adventure, richer now that he has his half of a hoard of fairygold, and happier since the Clarice Starlingesque superfairy Captain Holly Shortof the LEPrecon returned his mother's ailing mind to full health.But there is still much unfinished business: Artemis Fowl Sr. disappeared when adaring escapade designed to free his family from their criminal--not to mentiondeeply lucrative--past and move the family's assets into legitimate enterpriseswent horribly wrong. Held captive by the Mafiya (the Russian organized crimesyndicate) for over two years, he has been declared officially dead, but ArtemisJr. knows in his heart (yes, he does have one) that his beloved father is stillalive, and he is determined to find him. Meanwhile Captain Short is temporarilyon assignment to Customs and Excise as punishment for letting Fowl separate herand her People from their gold and is finding her stakeout duties a little dull.It soon becomes obvious that the pair have need of each other's considerableskills, and before long they are on track for an adventure that will ultimatelyhave far-reaching consequences for both of them.