John Keating

In the 1890s, Conor and his family live on the sovereign Saltee Islands, off the Irish coast. He spends his days studying the science of flight with his tutor and exploring the castle with the king's daughter, Princess Isabella. But the boy's idyllic life changes forever the day he discovers a deadly conspiracy against the king. When Conor tries to intervene, he is branded a traitor and thrown into jail on the prison island of Little Saltee. There,...

When Irish bouncer Dan McEvoy's step-gran shows up on the hunt for his dishevelled aunt Evelyn, it quickly becomes clear that -- despite the New Jersey mob -- family can provide the deadliest threat of all. In a city of gun-happy criminals, bent cops and a tough-talking woman detective whose inspires terror and lust in equal measure, Dan may just have reached the point where sharp wit won't cut the mustard. But can he play the heavies at their own...

Long before Artemis Fowl appeared in Eoin Colfer's hit series, he was born in the form of Eoin's younger brother Donal--the "young criminal mastermind" of the family. And on one particular spring day, he concocts his most sinister plot yet. A short story from the acclaimed collection Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka.