In this steampunk adventure by the author of The Dragon Men, a femme fatale offers a vengeful vigilante a simple job that becomes deadly. The Clockwork Plague continues to incite destruction throughout the world. For Thaddeus Sharpe, the only solution for the disease is death. That is why he has dedicated his life to hunting and killing Clockworkers, and his mission brings him to the streets of St. Petersburg. There he meets a mysterious young woman named Sofiya Ekk, who offers him a proposition from her powerful employer, Mr. Griffin. Thad has his suspicions, but it's an offer he cannot refuse. In a nearby village, a mad Clockwork scientist named Mr. Havoc has taken residence in a castle. His dreadful experiments on men and machine terrify the locals. He has created a dangerous machine, a ten-legged robotic spider. Griffin doesn't care what happens to Havoc; he only wants the invention. Simple enough . . . But when Thad arrives at the castle with Sofiya, they make a startling discovery. Not only is Havoc hiding the machine, but he has also been experimenting on a little boy. Now Thad finds himself caught in a mystery he must quickly unravel before havoc reigns . . .