Batman: The Court of Owls (DC Comics novel)

An original novel pitting Batman against the Court of Owls, a secret society of wealthy families that's controlled Gotham for centuries using murder and money.

 

    Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time
Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime
They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed
Speak not a whispered word about them, or they'll send the Talon for your head.

a nursery rhyme

For generations, an apocryphal cabal has controlled Gotham from the shadows, wielding fear and violence through its undead assassins, the Talons – THE COURT OF OWLS

Dating back centuries, its leaders are men and women of wealth and influence who meet in secrecy, hiding their identities behind stark white masks. Employing science and alchemy, they sought to kill Bruce Wayne who, as Batman, dealt them their greatest defeats. Even then they faded back into the darkness, and he could not eliminate them entirely.

Now, Gotham City is plagued with a series of brutal murders in which mutilated bodies are burned almost beyond recognition. Batman and his allies – including Nightwing and Batgirl – quickly realize that the Talons have returned, yet the reason for the killings remains tauntingly unknown.

As the heroes seek answers, their path stretches back more than a century. Should the Owls obtain what they seek, it could grant them power that no one could counter. With each moment that passes, more victims appear.

Batman must stop the Talons before they kill again.

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Greg Cox is a New York Times bestselling author known for novels tying into some of the most successful franchises in media today, including Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Terminator, and Godzilla. He's contributed some of the most popular prose novels involving the DC Universe, from the sweeping mega-series 52, Countdown, and Final Crisis to the blockbuster movie tie-ins Batman: The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel.