It's official. There's an N.E.C.B. out there (a New Eoin Colfer Book, that is). And if you're not a first-time reader, this should have the same effect on you as it does on so many others, so get on the Internet, call your nearest bookstore, dash off to the library, beg, borrow, yes, steal if you have to, but get that book.
You're probably already wondering what that boy-criminal is up to now, but this isn't Artemis Fowl we're talking about. "The Supernaturalist" is made of sterner stuff. It works because it's still in Colfer's signature style -- action to compete with the slickest Hollywood flick, with some great dialogue thrown in. That it still leaves you pining for good old Artemis is another matter.
An orphan, 14-year-old Cosmo Hill (named after where he was abandoned by his mother), has spent his childhood trapped in the confines of the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. He longs to escape, even though the world outside isn't much better. The atmosphere has been polluted by mega-factories; both dolphins and whales have long been extinct.