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'The Flash' & 'Arrow' Bring Their "Crossover Crisis" to the Printed Page [BOOK EXCERPT]

With Arrow set to shuffle off the CW's programming coil with its upcoming abbreviated eighth season, fans will be looking to get their fill of the Emerald Archer while they still can – and Amulet Books is here to help. Author Barry Lyga's (I Hunt Killers) The Flash: Green Arrow's Perfect Shot finds Oliver needing Barry's help to stop a serial bomber plaguing Star City. No muss, no fuss. But when their adventure results in a huge dimensional rift opening in Central City – and thousands of refugee super-speedsters pouring out into the streets.

Serving as the first in the "Crossover Crisis" trilogy (with future books focusing on Supergirl, Superman, and the heroes from DC's Legends of Tomorrow), ere's a portion of EW's exclusive excerpt from The Flash: Green Arrow's Perfect Shot, available for pre-order now and set to publish on Tuesday, August 13:

When the Green Arrow needs help tracking down a sinister bomber in Star City, speedster Barry Allen is out the door in a flash. But as The Flash saves the day with his friends on Team Arrow, a huge dimensional rift appears over his hometown of Central City—and thousands of refugees with superspeed come pouring out. Can the combined skills of Team Arrow and The Flash's friends at S.T.A.R. Labs manage the chaos long enough to stop the rift from tearing their universe apart?

OLIVER PERCHED HIGH ATOP THE Aparo Tower, roughly a block away from the barricaded no-man's-land that had once been the Glades. Star City had the beauty of a cobra. It was deadly and hypnotic all at once, and he had to admit that he wouldn't have it any other way. He liked his city somewhat mysterious—he just wanted it to be better and more fair at the same time.

He'd grown up here, the wealthy scion of the city's leading family. He knew best the shining tops of towers and the mansions of the most exclusive districts, but he loved every inch of Star City, from the broken sidewalks to the highest penthouses. That the city still hadn't rebuilt after the devastation of the Glades was a source of shame for him, though he knew too well the niggling practicalities that had kept the construction equipment from moving in. There were zoning ordinances and contract bids to sort through, architectural details and city planning standards . . . He was wealthy and politically connected, and he'd been pushing as hard as he could to rebuild the city, but some things took their own time.

Not every problem could be solved with a mask, a voice modulator, and an arrow through the center of the bull's-eye.

More's the pity, he thought, turning his attention away from the Glades and to the buildings nearby.

He'd chosen the rooftop of the Aparo Tower not because it was the tallest building in the vicinity—it wasn't—but rather because it was the perfect vantage point from which to observe the four buildings Felicity had identified as the most likely targets for their serial bomber. He had his team staked out closer to each individual building. Spartan, his former bodyguard and right-hand man, John Diggle, was watching one, while Wild Dog, Rene Ramirez, street-scrapper extraordinaire, was parked a block up from the second building on his motorcycle, ready to roll. Mr. Terrific— Curtis Holt—was monitoring the third building with his incredibly high-tech T-spheres, and Black Canary—Dinah Drake, possessor of the fierce Canary Cry—had eyes on the fourth building.

For himself, Oliver had chosen the angel seat, the overarching holistic position. He could see all four buildings and have his team move at a moment's notice.

Bird's-eye view whenever possible, his frenemy and mentor Slade Wilson had taught him. All the better to swoop down on your enemies.

Oliver sighed. He'd been all about swooping down on his enemies once. He'd had a list of people who'd done wrong, and he had been determined to go down that list one by one and eliminate each of them from the face of the earth. But now he was more interested in justice than vengeance. It wasn't about retribution anymore. If he had to let the bad guy go in order to save lives, so be it.

Better to do both, though, right?

The sun had set about twenty minutes ago, and Star City was steeped in early autumn darkness. It was chilly up here on the rooftop, but the thermal layers in his Green Arrow costume kept him warm, preventing his muscles from locking up, keeping him limber. He resisted the urge to check the time. Barry had promised he would be here, and looking at the time every thirty seconds wasn't going to get him here any faster.

Off in the distance, a burst of light flickered for an instant on the horizon. Lightning? He glanced up at the sky. It was a clear night. No rain in the forecast. That meant . . .

"Hey, Oliver!"

He spun around, fighting every instinct in his body to nock an arrow. There on the rooftop stood none other than Barry Allen, the Flash. Sparks of electricity still winkled in the air around him, coruscating tidbits of lightning from the channeling of the mysterious Speed Force.

"Took you long enough to get here," Oliver said. "And remember: code names. We're in the field."

Barry looked around. "Riiiiiight. Because someone might be wandering around on the rooftop and overhear me."

Head on over to Entertainment Weekly for the rest of their exclusive excerpt from author Lyga's The Flash: Green Arrow's Perfect Shot, the first novel in the "Crossover Crisis" trilogy.

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