London 1826. Leaving behind his father s tragic failures Gabriel Swift arrives to study with Edwin Poll the greatest of the city s anatomists. It is his chance to find advancement by making a name for himself. But instead he finds himself drawn to his master s nemesis Lucan the most powerful of the city s resurrectionists and ruler of its trade in stolen bodies. Dismissed by Mr Poll Gabriel descends into the violence and corruption of London s underworld a place where everything and everyone is for sale and where - as Gabriel discovers - the taking of a life is easier than it might seem.