It’s easy to see that Nightwing predates the major boom of paperback horror starting in the 80s because the focus is not on the plague-ridden bloodsucking animals you were promised, and instead it features largely well-written characters and an interesting discussion of what direction the Navajo and Hopi nations should go in an increasingly changing white America. About halfway through the book, the bats do start wreaking havoc but never overshadow the main cast.

The book is pretty slow at points and never comes to solid conclusions about the questions it raises, but the fact it strived to be more than gory schlock makes it more respectable even in the moments when it’s not as fun.

A very interesting book