A boy, a dog and a trio of notorious Brazilian bank robbers are the ingredients for this fast-paced sequel to A Dog Called Grk (2007). When the Pelotti brothers resume robbing Brazilian banks, 12-year-old Timothy, his dog Grk and his Stanislavian friends Max and Natascha fly from England to Brazil to capture them. Instead, Tim is kidnapped by Zito, a young slum-dweller, and the two, plus the dog, set off to follow the robbers from their favela hideout to a remote jungle landing strip and on to a river launch near a dangerous waterfall. Grk proves his worth, biting fiercely at the appropriate moments. But it’s Tim whose determination brings about the satisfying conclusion, made even more satisfying when he turns his reward check over to his needier Brazilian friend. Woven into the action is an introduction to the stark economic contrasts in Rio de Janeiro. Pure adventure fun, new readers will want to go back to the first installment and look forward to the promised third in Spring 2008. (Fiction. 9-12)
