Batman: Nightwalkers by Marie Lu - ESSENTIAL

Batman: Nightwalker (D.C. Icons, #2)  by Marie Lu, 250 pages.  Random House, 2018. $19.  

Content: Language: PG-13 (22 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.    

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL – HIGH  

Bruce Wayne has just turned eighteen and with that comes access to his trust fund.  Bruce wishes that he could have his parents instead of the money, and with the way he lost his parents he has carefully watched the crime in Gotham since he became an orphan.  On the night of his eighteenth birthday, Bruce helps the police stop a criminal, but he is punished for his vigilantism and given community service at the local Arkham Asylum.  While cleaning the halls of the asylum, Bruce is drawn to Madeleine Wallace a quiet and beguiling girl who is involved with the crime ring called the Nightwalkers.  Bruce thinks he can get information out of Madeleine, even though the police can't, but what he finds out is that he might be the Nightwalkers next target.  

I loved this re-imagining of Batman.  Bruce Wayne at eighteen makes for a fun story line. I enjoyed how Marie Lu stayed true to the feel of Gotham and Batman’s world.  Although this is the second D.C. Icons novel, they don’t overlap or need to be read in order.  The violence is PG-13 because of some of the violence described.  

C. Peterson