Breaking the Dark

From the multi-million-copy bestselling author, discover the gripping Sunday Times bestseller and gritty detective novel, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series.

'A fun, entertaining read that really packs a punch!' Shari Lapena
'Immersive, page-turning, addictive, fresh and fun.' Andrea Mara
'Tricksy, endlessly interesting and pure entertainment, don't miss this one.' Gillian McAllister
'Exhilarating, twisty and original. Agatha Christie meets Black Mirror!' Claire Douglas

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Meet Jessica Jones: a private investigator and retired super hero based out of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, who goes from job to job as a hard living, rough talking, loner.

And then a wealthy Upper East Side woman pays her a visit. Amber Randall is concerned about her twin sixteen-year-olds, Lark and Fox, who have acted and looked very different since they returned from spending the summer with their British father in the UK. She tells Jessica that her children have unnaturally perfect skin for teenagers and have lost all the tics and habits that made them who they were. They are not Lark and Fox, she tells Jessica. Something has happened to them.

To find out more, Jessica travels to Essex to talk to their father and once there meets Belle who is living a curiously isolated existence in a run-down farmhouse with her guardian Debra. Jessica knows that Lark and Fox had spent the summer with Belle-but can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for Lark and Fox's new personas?

Jessica soon discovers that, behind Belle and Debra, evil geniuses are playing a dangerous game with technology in order to make the world a "better place", not caring who gets hurt, maimed or even killed in the process. Can Jessica stop them from wreaking destruction on a whole generation of young people?

Nothing is certain in Lisa Jewell's gripping and most imaginative novel yet.

Breaking the Dark, the first book in the brand-new Marvel Crime series, introduces fans to a grittier, street-level side of the Marvel Universe, and will continue with original novels featuring fan-favourite characters like Luke Cage, written by S.A. Cosby, and Daredevil, written by Alex Segura.

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Readers are loving Breaking the Dark . . .

'I quickly became absorbed into the story and couldn't put it down.' 5-star reader review

'Wow... The book can be read by someone super into Marvel and also someone who has no prior super hero knowledge.' 5-star reader review

'Fun and exciting. I recommend it!' 5-star reader review

'A supercharged read that even readers who are not lovers off Marvel will be able to pick up and enjoy.' 5-star reader review

'What a book. I loved it!' 5-star reader review

'An exciting, riveting, adrenaline-pumping story' Liz Nugent, bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond

'Fresh, lively, insightful-and the action scenes hit like a chop.' AJ Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

'The perfect blend of psychological thriller and supernatural chiller.' Mark Edwards, bestselling author of The Retreat

'So cleverly plotted and as ever beautifully written' Harriet Tyce, bestselling author of Blood Orange

'Classic Lisa Jewell with an amazing twist!' Jenny Colgan, bestselling author of Close Knit

'Reveals the depth and complexity of one of the most fascinating and indomitable characters in the Marvel canon.' S. A. Cosby, bestselling author of All the Sinners


'I was hooked from the start and couldn't turn the pages fast enough.' Alice Feeney, bestselling author of Rock Paper Scissors

'Absolutely compulsive, complex and gripping.' Nadine Matheson, bestselling author of The Jigsaw Man


Sunday Times bestseller, July 2024