BATMAN: NIGHT WALKER
by Marie Lu
Random House
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
From Goodreads:
Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.
The Nightwalkers are terrorizing Gotham City, and Bruce Wayne is next on their list.
One by one, the city’s elites are being executed as their mansions’ security systems turn against them, trapping them like prey. Meanwhile, Bruce is turning eighteen and about to inherit his family’s fortune, not to mention the keys to Wayne Enterprises and all the tech gadgetry his heart could ever desire. But after a run-in with the police, he’s forced to do community service at Arkham Asylum, the infamous prison that holds the city’s most brutal criminals.
Madeleine Wallace is a brilliant killer . . . and Bruce’s only hope.
In Arkham, Bruce meets Madeleine, a brilliant girl with ties to the Nightwalkers. What is she hiding? And why will she speak only to Bruce? Madeleine is the mystery Bruce must unravel. But is he getting her to divulge her secrets, or is he feeding her the information she needs to bring Gotham City to its knees? Bruce will walk the dark line between trust and betrayal as the Nightwalkers circle closer.
This was my first introduction to Marie Lu, but I’ve read a ton of Batman comics over my lifetime. And I have to say, she kind of nailed it.
We known Batman. He’s dark, broods a lot, loves the colour black, enjoys gadgets and rocket-powered cars, hates crime, LOVES JUSTICE! But do we really know Bruce Wayne? Once Batman exists, Bruce Wayne becomes the mask. He’s Batman’s costume.
So writing from the perspective of a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne is a daunting task and a road less travelled.
Throughout Nightwalker, you can see the seeds of Batman, which were planted long ago, starting to sprout. Bruce’s desire of justice, his affinity for studying cases, the way he notices small details and deduces their meaning. We see him developing the tools.
We even get to see him whipping around the streets of Gotham in a kick-ass car. Though the car might be stepping on another icon’s toes… It’s an Aston Martin, which might not mean a lot to you, but that’s traditionally what James Bond has always driven. Look out, Bruce!
This book had the right amount of familiar characters to make me feel comfortable and the right amount of new characters to keep me intrigued and guessing. Will any of these characters turn out to be someone else?
The foremost among them, Madeleine. She was mysterious, and intriguing, and you get the sense that a small piece of her rubs off on Bruce and will stay with him as he transitions into the caped crusader.
My only issue was that it was a little too much, awkward-unsure-of-himself Bruce, and not enough kickass-almost-Batman Bruce. I know this is before it all, but certain Batman characteristics would have to be there a lifetime and can’t be learned in a few years.
Whether you’re a Batman fan or just a fan of good YA books, this is one to pick up!