Batman: Nightwalker

I know that this book came out a few years ago, but I didn't have a copy. Originally I also thought I wouldn't like it because I am more of a girl hero lover than male heroes, but this one was actually surprisingly fun for me.
The story begins with Madeleine being caught at a crime scene and arrested for murdering one of Gotham City's elite citizens. Right away you get the feeling that she isn't the bad guy and she is taking the fall for someone else. The story then jumps to Bruce Wayne as he is traveling to his 18th birthday party. Bruce leaves the party early because he gets upset by the mayor's son, who used to be his friend. While traveling back to Wayne Manor, Bruce ends up driving right into a crime scene, and when he realizes that the police aren't going to catch the criminal he chases him down instead. As a result, Bruce is sentenced to community service, and he is assigned to work at Arkham Asylum cleaning the halls and other areas. While there, he goes into the basement where the "toughest" criminals are kept, and of course, he meets Madeleine. Madeleine soon starts talking to Bruce, and she tells him things that she won't tell the police. Luckily for the police force, Bruce is willing to go "undercover" for them and try to Madeleine to reveal the secrets of the Nightwalkers. As the story goes on, Bruce finds himself falling for Madeleine, and at the end, we discover she really isn't the bad guy that she seemed to be.
As I said before, this was surprisingly fun, but it was also a little predictable. I was a little sad that the author developed a love story between Bruce and Madeleine, but then Madeleine didn't stick around at the end. Also, by having Madeleine even be part of the story, the author kind of threw a kink in the original DC story that some ardent Batman fans probably won't appreciate. However, I did enjoy the action and the plot line to the book. Even though I knew that Bruce was on the hit list, I didn't realize that the Nightwalkers would target him so early in the story. I was expecting the end of the book to be more about him and the Nightwalkers invading Wayne Manor, and that surprisingly happened more in the middle of the book. Also, I enjoyed the fact that Harvey Dent was included in the story, and he and Bruce were friends from high school (at least the author kept that part from the original).
Since I have the book, I will definitely be putting it in my classroom library for my students to read. I feel that the author did a great job of creating the characters, and males and females alike will enjoy the story. The males because Bruce Wayne is an independent teenager who takes matters into his own hands and comes out on top; the females because Madeleine is part of the story and Bruce falls for her. My own 12-year-old son read the book, and he loved it! He finished it within 24 hours, so I know that if he enjoyed it, most teenage boys will also like it. He even said, "Mom, the love story wasn't that bad in it." So, if you are a Batman fan and don't mind how closely it sticks to the original, Batman: Nightwalker is one that you will want to read and share with other Batman lovers.