Told through five linked stories and spanning thirty years, it is a stunning epic of radio surveillance, code breaking and secret missions in which psychics, revolutionaries and math geniuses fight for survival. The novel was an instant bestseller, and Mai Jia was hired to adapt the book for TV. The 30-episode TV series went on air in 2005 and became a national sensation. IN THE DARK won the Mao Dun Literary Award in 2008. It is also widely considered the pioneer of a new wave of espionage writing in China.

Penguin has acquired the rights to publish In the Dark in 2014.