In her most imaginative novel yet, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell launches the Marvel Crime series of thriller books for adults with an original story starring the private detective Jessica Jones.
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-favorite characters like Luke Cage, written by S.A. Cosby, and Daredevil, written by Alex Segura.
What is Breaking the Dark about?
Meet Jessica Jones: Retired superhero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.
The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.”
Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins’ new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?
A mother’s intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect—not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.
A slow start propelled into a fast-paced thriller with unprecedented twists
Breaking the Dark starts this new Marvel series with a serious bang. However, author Lisa Jewell takes her time in the early chapters setting the stage for her Jessica Jones story. Hungover, unkempt and unsure about her most recent commitment to looking after a friend’s cat while the friend is away, it begins with the Jessica Jones fans know and love. Jewell re-introduces readers to the familiar before propelling them into a story quite different to any other Jessica Jones, or even Marvel, tale before it.
Before I get to the all-new stuff, the all-old (and faithful) stuff besides Jessica herself is included to some extent, and captured in a fun and familiar way, which should satisfy Jones fans. Superpowers, Luke Cage and an intriguing detective case frame Breaking the Dark which provides a typical foundation or road map for a Jessica Jones story. But Jessica’s (and Luke’s) superpowers take a back seat, and the story goes off road, to make way for more relatable challenges that we have not known these characters to encounter previously. Where things get very interesting are the layers of complexity not only to the Randall case, but the layers of complexity to Jessica’s life, made more complicated by her relationship with Luke and related developments (no spoilers!).
The Randall case is truly thrilling and a bit scarier than prior Jessica Jones jobs (and stories). There is a dark supernatural feel to it, especially in the beginning, which is a great hook for fans of the thriller genre who are perhaps newcomers to the Marvel universe. One of my favorite aspects is that once Jessica busts the case wide open (as, of course, she was always going to do), many questions remain and the story is far from over which adds to the reader’s unsettledness. (It was so much fun to feel like something was not quite right at every turn – I, too, became completely invested in the investigation.) Suspicious persons are arrested and Jessica flies home from the UK to New York. And yet… were the people responsible arrested? What about the other missing persons? The arrests do not explain the more sinister workings afoot which continue to simmer beneath the surface before being addressed thoroughly and thoughtfully in the final chapters. It is thrilling, gripping and a definite page-turner.
Motherhood, surprisingly, is a unique and big theme of this story. Jewell breaks down barriers and stereotypes, weaving in the highs, lows and overall huge responsibility and privilege that it is to be a mom. As a new mom myself, this resonated with me on all levels and I enjoyed and welcomed exploring it in the context of a Jessica Jones novel. Jewell executed this theme sincerely and its presence pleasantly surprised me.
The most glaring theme that permeates and carries Breaking the Dark is the notion of being perfect. Jewell cleverly and creatively conveys the dangers of perfection in a delightfully eerie and entertaining way. She does so not only through the events of the story but also through various characters and through time (interspersed chapters set in the past) which provides different perspectives on the topic and different angles to the case. It makes for fascinating fiction while reminding us that being perfect is not everything it’s cracked up to be.
Breaking the Dark is an excellent young adult novel that adds new depth to the Marvel universe. The successor books in the series have a lot of work to do to match its storytelling mastery, but this Jessica Jones tale kicks off the Marvel Crime series with superhuman strength.
Breaking the Dark is now available at book retailers everywhere.