CATBOY AND THE NEW EVIL

A teenage superhero investigates a series of bombs planted in his city in this children’s book.

Although mild-mannered teen Michael is frequently late for class, he values school. When he goes out at night to fight crime as Catboy, he makes sure to get home by 10:50 p.m. No narrative exposition is given for how Michael obtained his powers of superhuman smell. But living in “big bad” Las Vegas, he finds that his summer has been full of crime-fighting exploits. As school starts again, a bomb threat and a subsequent series of random explosions ensure his year will be anything but tranquil. Catboy doesn’t act alone. He works with the local police department and his FBI agent father, using his catlike sense of smell to track down a series of clues. Without apparent warning, a voice recording reveals that the Vegas bombs are being planted by an England-based ex–FBI agent who wants to rule the world as queen. Michael’s whole family abruptly travels around the world to stop her: “England is so big and wide,” a character comments. A massive, partially helicopter-based fight with unnamed assailants follows. In this action-packed tale, Tuttle offers an intriguing young superhero with amazing catlike powers. But the author veers unpredictably between first and third person and between present and past tense. In addition, the motivations of the villain and the reasoning behind the bombs in Vegas remain unclear in this short book (under 30 pages). Major plot points receive less space than casual dialogue over breakfast. Though the work appears to target children, there are no illustrations, and the small font size may discourage young readers.

A lively but confusing superhero adventure.