The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #3) »

Rick Riordan is best known for his bestselling YA series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and for a series of award-winning adult mysteries featuring San Antonio P.I. Tres Navarre.

Percy Jackson returns in another modern-day adventure with a Greek mythology twist—this time he must find a goddess kidnapped from Mount Olympus!

When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. And now it's up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. They must find Artemis before the winter solstice, when her influence on the Olympian Council could swing an important vote on the war with the titans. Not only that, but first Percy will have to solve the mystery of a rare monster that Artemis was hunting when she disappeared—a monster rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus forever.

VOYA

Percy Jackson is loyal, humble, and defends his friends. What's not to like? It seems, however, that the evil Dr. Thorn wants Percy, the son of Poseidon, dead. Percy, Thalia (daughter of Zeus), and Annabeth are summoned by Grover to creepy Westover Hall where the satyr has located two new half-bloods. It is a setup. Dr. Thorn mocks the heroes and then boldly kidnaps Annabeth. The despicable act launches Percy and company on a cross-country rescue mission, allowing the author to work in classic myths, gods, and creatures. Action comes fast and furious here and only lets up when the characters pause to plan their next move. Several persons are repeated from the previous books, such as the wine-soaked Dionysus and Chiron, Camp Half-Blood's activity director. Key new arrivals are Artemis and her unit of hardened archers. These tough girls do not play around and conduct themselves as a deadly special-forces platoon-and it is a good thing, too. Artemis's warriors protect Percy's crew from a death squad of deranged skeletal soldiers as they zoom across the American West to save Annabeth. The screenplay-like story line and almost over-the-top action might alienate literary purists, but this reviewer is betting that teens will be thrilled by the wicked pace. Especially gripping is a brawl through the gods' junkyard with seventy-foot-tall Talos, a scene hinting of a manga title's mecha battle. Mixing humor with fantasy and rousing swordplay, this installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is a hero's epic quest reminiscent of cyberpunk science fiction or addictive videogames. Librarians should lock and load for requests.