AustLit

'Henry Williams is a multi-millionaire property developer; his life is a charmed and happy one – at least until a mysterious, timeworn woman turns up unannounced at his offices and shows him an old manuscript that will change his world forever.

'The document tells the story of Demelza Cotton, a young street urchin from 19th century London, and her struggle to survive in the notorious Old Nichol slums alongside the charismatic, wild and dangerous Jago Quinn.

'Whether conning rich toffs or stealing food from grocers’ stalls, these two live life on the edge, using their wits and street smarts to skirt a line between the forces of the law and the clutches of the vicious Cray Twins – the hideous and homicidal heads of the criminal underworld.

'But one day the simple theft of a watch turns into something quite different and their already precarious existence in one of the darkest, deepest and most dangerous slums in England threatens to spiral out of control.

'They come under the scrutiny of both the Crays and the enigmatic Adamina Wollondilly with her secretive organization of Eyeballers.

'Which is when they find the iridescent, rainbow-coloured dragon – and things start to get really weird.

'Keith Austin’s latest Young Adult book is a roller-coaster ride through the depths of one of the most notorious true-life slums in old England, a bizarre breakneck romp with wonderfully revolting characters and twists, turns and surprises that will keep you wrong-footed and guessing right to the very end.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.