In a city powered by stolen souls, one clerk holds the key to salvation-or annihilation.Lyra Corbin is a junior clerk in the Soul-Tithe Department, a bureaucratic labyrinth where every citizen's life essence is quantified, taxed, and logged. She believes in the cold, beautiful order of numbers-until she finds a discrepancy. Seven souls are marked as transferred, but their energy has vanished. To her superiors, it's a clerical error. To Lyra, it's a scream in a silent room.Her investigation pulls her into a dark underworld of magic and corruption, where she encounters a flickering, ghost-like victim known as a "hollow"-a soul trapped between life and death. Teaming up with the cynical, hardened Captain Rhys Vancor, she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy: a powerful philanthropist, Lord Malakor, is running a soul-trafficking ring, siphoning the life force of the city's forgotten to fuel his twisted vision of a perfect utopia.Now, Lyra is a target. Hunted by a gaunt, terrifying enforcer who can kill with a touch and betrayed by those she once trusted, she must use her wits and her unique mastery of the arcane ledgers to expose the truth. The fate of countless souls hangs in the balance. To save her city, she must shatter the system she once served and become the one thing it cannot control: a variable of justice.Dive into a world where the most valuable currency is a human soul, and the ultimate crime is stealing it. This gripping fantasy crime novel features: A unique magic system based on soul-energy and bureaucratic intrigueA determined, intellectually-gifted female protagonistA gritty, noir-inspired fantasy metropolisA twisty conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of powerA compelling enemies-to-allies partnershipHigh-stakes heist elements and thrilling chases