Review by Ian Keogh

As shown on the cover, August and Charlie are two well-intentioned cats who combine their talents to operate an armoured dog suit known as Sparks. Credible reasons for the strange situation were supplied by Ian Boothby and Nina Matsumoto in their sparky opening volume. August is smart and scientific while Charlie is brave, but impulsive, and they also have the robot Litter Box as a hidden partner.

As the cover also shows, the complication for Sparks in Double Dog Dare is the appearance of a doppelganger. He’s not so well intentioned, and the real article is blamed for the damage caused. Boothby takes a while getting there, though, as he first has to introduce new readers to the cats in action, and take a detour into space via August’s dreams. As before, Matsumoto’s delightful cartooning keeps the pages turning fast with one page after another of energetic action featuring the appealing cast. Because the two dogs are nearly identical, Matsumoto gives them slightly different colour schemes.

It’s the cats’ squirrel friend Steve-o who first meets the evil duplicate, almost fried when he asks for help, and as before reporter Denise Densford is all too ready to believe Sparks is the problem rather than the cure. It’s Litter Box who acts as narrator, sometimes taking strange detours into gardening tips or other matters, so it’s halfway through before Sparks meets his evil duplicate. Who are they? Why are they trashing Sparks’ reputation? Those are the questions readers will want answered, but Boothby’s great at introducing other matters that captivate, like Charlie’s life before he met August.

Double Dog Dare is every bit as much fun as the first Sparks book, and there’s more to come in Future Purrfect.