Set in a future where Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt teeter on the edge of all-out war, *Leviathan Wakes* ignites with the brutal destruction of the ice hauler Canterbury, pushing its first officer Jim Holden into a fight for survival and accountability. Meanwhile, grizzled detective Joe Miller hunts for a missing heiress, Julie Mao, on the lawless Ceres station. As their paths collide, they uncover a horrifying secret: the Protomolecule, an alien organism weaponized by the ruthless Protogen corporation, which threatens to consume humanity. Navigating political betrayals, interplanetary conflict, and the Protomolecule’s nightmarish spread, Holden and Miller must choose between vengeance, survival, and saving the solar system from annihilation. A gritty, high-stakes sci-fi thriller blending space opera, detective noir, and political intrigue, it lays the explosive foundation for The Expanse series.