Global warming has divided the continent. Samarra, a soldier from the barren, autocratic South, has fled to the Barrow, a northern city where the only things growing faster than the city’s piles of garbage are extremist cults and violent gangs. Her sole objective is survival: to stay hidden and stay safe. With jobs in short supply, Samarra counts herself lucky to find work with the Vauns, one of the Barrow’s most powerful and dangerous families. As she learns to navigate the beauty, the horror, and the magic of the lawless city, she finds herself living in the shadow of a missing woman—the beautiful and mysterious Raina, who worked for the Vauns before her. When the trail, long thought cold, heats up, Samarra must decide whether her newly gained chance at freedom is worth sacrificing for a ghost.