About the Book

“A steampunk novel for everyone… witty, fun, exciting, and inventive” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author

New Year’s Eve, 1901. The platform city of Addleton Heights towers on massive stilts above the Atlantic, a marvel of Victorian engineering hiding dark secrets. When private detective “Kip” Kipsey is coerced into investigating a double murder at a floating mansion, a dying man’s cryptic message launches him into a conspiracy that threatens the entire city.

Partnering with Janae Nelson—a brilliant inventor harboring dangerous secrets of her own—Kipsey discovers a plot involving nine-foot mechanical statues, mysterious batteries, and an industrialist’s terrifying vision for the city’s future. As bodies pile up and hydrogen-filled estates drift overhead, they must navigate a world where the privileged literally live above those they oppress.

From steam-powered walking suits to electrical weapons, from floating mansions to the coal-darkened depths below, Kipsey and Janae race against time in this noir detective adventure. In a city built on suffering, where technology serves oppression and class divisions are measured in vertical feet, justice might require bringing everything crashing down. A thrilling mystery where love and revolution spark in the shadows of industrial corruption.