Bruce Wayne might be a billionaire but he’s just like any other 18 year old when it comes to hanging out with friends and looking forward to their last summer together before University and College.

The problem is, turning 18 entitles Bruce to his parent’s vast fortune, including Wayne Enterprises and all the high tech they own or are testing. He’s always tested his own boundaries, giving his guardian Alfred many worrying moments, and when he’s involved in a police car chase he’s giving community service.

The police, determined to teach this rich boy a lesson, put him to work with a mop and a bucket and rubber gloves inside a prison holding Gotham City’s deadliest inmates – Arkham Asylum. Whilst doing his time after school and on weekends, he sees a girl the same age in the basement cells, where the worst criminals are housed. Surely she can’t be what they say?

Gotham City in the meantime, is being attacked by a group who call themselves Nightwalkers. They claim Robin Hood ethics, taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Influential people are being targeted, and Bruce wonders whether he’s in their sights.

The girl in Arkham is said to be involved, but Bruce is unconvinced after spent time talking to her through the thick glass of her cell. She’s distant but also mesmerizing, and he can’t leave her case alone, despite being warned away from it by police and his friends Diane and Harvey Dent.

Is she telling the truth, or is she a monster? Is she warning him, or is he the next target? The truth will push his physical and mental skills to the max, along with some high tech Wayne Enterprises have been developing. Will he finally learn the truth?

This new tale in Gotham City is pre: Batman, but there are many references to the possibility of him in the near future. We have Bruce Wayne still mourning his parents, enjoying his friendships with a girl called Diane and his mate Harvey Dent.

Alfred and Lucius Fox feature too. As a Batman fan, I enjoyed this prequel to the Caped Crusader, with the high tech, undercurrents of suspicion and attraction, and uncertainty of who is the real bad guy.

Author – Marie Lu

Age – 12+

(DC Comic, Batman, Caped Crusader, Action, Gotham City, Loyalty, Violence, Grief, Revenge, Crime)