Excerpt from Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Scant nodded. 'Yes. That's not a problem. I'll go tonight.'

Opal stretched out on the sofa like a cat in the sunlight. 'Good. This is turning out to be a lovely day. Now, send for the surgeon.'

The Brill brothers glanced at each other.

'Miss Koboi?' said Mervall nervously.

'Yes, what is it?'

'The surgeon. This kind of operation cannot be reversed even by magic. Are you sure you wouldn't like to think……'

Opal leapt from the sofa. Her cheeks were crimson with rage.

'Think! You'd like me to think about it! What do you imagine I have been doing for the past year? Thinking! Twenty four hours a day. I don't care about magic. Magic did not help me to escape, science did. Science will be my magic. Now, no more advice, Merv, or your brother will be an only child. Is that clear?'

Merv was stunned. He had never seen Opal in such a rage. The coma had changed her.

'Yes, Miss Koboi.'

'Now, summon the surgeon.'

'At once, Miss Koboi.'

Opal lay back on the sofa. Soon everything would be right in the world. Her enemies would shortly be dead or discredited. Once those loose ends were tied up, she could get on with her new life. Koboi rubbed the tips of her pointed ears. What would she look like, she wondered, as a human?

Copyright 2005 by Eoin Colfer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Penguin Group (UK). No part of this book maybe reproduced without written permission from the publisher.