It begins as an uncomfortable ordinary Gotham City night-- with Two-Face holding an office full of civilians hostage.  A television crew from Tokyo sneaks onto the scene to find themselves a part of the breaking story.  The threat of homicide hangs heavy in the air--until Batman arrives to thwart the villain's plan.

And then it gets weird.

Suddenly, inexplicably, Two-Face burns up . . . literally.  Hours later, a mummified husk is all that remains of one of Batman's greatest foes.

But the thing of it is--this foe wasn't Two-Face.  The real Two-Face rests comfortably in Arkham Asylum.

And if the kidnapper wasn't Two-Face--then who was he?  It's a question Batman shares with Yuko Yagi, anchor of the Japanese news team initially assigned to snare an interview with Batman, and who is rather shamelessly using her search for an answer to get as close as possible to the Dark Knight.

heir investigation points them in the direction of an addictive, transformative drug just hitting the streets of Gotham; a drug that physically alters the user and allows him to become a living incarnation of a preselected member of Batman's Rogues Gallery . . . just before it burns him alive!

The hunt for the drug and its manufacturer takes Yuko and Batman through Gotham City--and then to their final destination--Tokyo.  Along the way, Batman confronts classic villain after classic villain--never quite certain if they are chemically induced fakes, or the real, even deadlier originals!

Return to Book List