It’s been a while since I read the last Batman chapter book so this one had a lot to live up too. The other books may not have been award winners, but they were pretty fun and made for some happy reading. This book has a little disadvantage since the main villain is Hugo Strange, but maybe we can get past that. After all, the important part is that Batman gets his props and shows off his detective skills.

The plot involves Hugo Strange kidnapping people and turning them into monsters. This is a very brief summary of the book, but that’s the general plot. Bruce Wayne decides to fake an injury and investigate this…which was a pretty risky plan. Mr. Wayne didn’t go prepared and he ends up getting kidnapped rather easily. I guess Bruce was confident, but that was still disappointing. Batman is not the type to go down so easily. Can Robin save the day!?

I am glad that Robin got his share of screen time for once and he was a major character in this book. Unfortunately, he doesn’t look particularly good and Batman is still forced to do most of the work. Robin may not be as tough as Batman, but he’s still a threat in his own right. Maybe he will look better in future novels. As I suspected, Hugo Strange doesn’t make for a very good villain. I suppose that he is aimed to be like the Joker or Lex Luthor, but he’s just not as interesting.

Overall, this was a good addition to the Batman chapter books, but it was my least favorite so far. It was pretty short as per usual and it was fun to read, but it lacked something. It just wasn’t as engaging as the other books and Batman looked pretty bad. Of course, it was still good and if you like reading about superhero books, then this you will enjoy it. (I also give the book extra props for the cool cover) Of course, if you want a true superhero story, check out the novel adaption of Marvel’s Civil War!

Overall 6/10