Nora Smith may be the best rat-catcher, pickpocket, and liar in gas-lit London, but her skills can't help save her brother when he is killed in a fight. That's when Aleister Blake appears, a man who offers to reclaim her sibling from death. For a price. At Aleister's bidding, Nora leaves her life in the streets and moves into his house, one brimming with secrets. There are servants she only sees from the corner of her eyes and an entire second story she can't access. When Aleister challenges her to help him find what he values most in the world in exchange for keeping her brother alive, she must use all of her talents to follow the only hint he has given her: the ship christened Pandemonium . With the enigmatic Aleister at her heels, Nora chases Pandemonium 's trail right into London's underbelly, where blackmailers and smugglers thrive. Right to the truth that will force her to finally confront who she is and what it really means to make bargains with the Devil.