CAT CREW

A cat spinoff leads to more crime-fighting adventure in this Dog Squad (2021) sequel.

Just as the canine cast of the live-action television series Dog Squad (which formed the basis for the first book) breaks for hiatus and its star, Fred, heads back to Jenny Yen’s animal training ranch, ratings for the show dip. The network’s solution is Cat Crew, a crossover spinoff featuring some of Jenny’s rescued cats. Delivering tension and driving the plot are next-door neighbor and billionaire Kitty Bitteridge; her chauffeur, Dimitri (a former cat trainer in exile from his Russian homeland); and their performing Abyssinians, who become Cat Crew’s rivals with their own show, Feline Force Five. Not only are Kitty and Dimitri using cruel methods to train the Abyssinians, but they have kidnapped one of the cats-in-training. Once again, short, high-energy chapters full of action, animal dialogue, and animated illustrations recount fast-paced heroics. This time there’s teamwork—and plenty more puns—as Fred joins forces with the kidnapped cat’s feline family, ranch animal friends, and Jenny’s niece Abby’s continuing pet psychic abilities helping to expose Kitty and save her animal performers. The dialogue occasionally relies on negative tropes, as with Russian villain Dimitri and a former barn cat whose speech evokes Southern stereotypes.

Entertaining but not purr-fect.