Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty

Gotham Central, Book 1: In the Line of Duty by Ed Brubaker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Detective Driver's partner is killed and the department wants to apprehend the killer before Batman gets called in. Only the killer is Mr. Freeze. An arsonist plagues the city and Driver and his new partner have to catch him and a missing girl is found dead. Detective Renee Montoya is outed and framed. All in all, a normal week at the GCPD.

When enough of your friends give a book high praise, sooner or later you have to stop being a stubborn asshole and give it a try. In this case, Gotham Central is the book and the stubborn asshole is me.

The core concept behind Gotham Central is a fairly simple one. If Batman was patrolling your city, how would the cops deal with it? They'd probably resent and respect you simultaneously, as is repeatedly shown in the pages of Gotham Central.

There isn't a whole lot more I can mention about the plot without spoiling too much of it. It's basically a series of crime stories set in Gotham City, centering on the GCPD.

Brubaker and Rucka knocked the ball out of the park and into the river in this one. The writing is superb and at times I forgot I was reading something set in Gotham City. I cannot recommend this enough to fans of comic books and crime fiction.

View all my reviews