In an alternate early 1900s, a scientist hunts down her former research partner after he steals her life’s work before his greed reshapes the world in this darkly wondrous cosmic horror.
One morning in 1904, scientist Ada Franklin wakes up in her own grave. Clawing her way out, she discovers her lab abandoned and her research partner gone—along with her life’s work: a prototype designed to enable human-angel communication. But Ada wasn’t completely unprepared. Missing specimens and stolen notes have long hinted at an increasingly tenuous partnership and hidden deals with the institutions funding their work.
Angelic infestations have kept the original thirteen colonies in place, halting westward expansion. Now, as Manifest Destiny gains momentum, Ada’s attempted murder suggests the ability to communicate with—and perhaps control—angels is a power worth killing for.
With no one else to trust, Ada allies with her ex-lover, now monstrously transformed by the forces they once studied. Together, they hunt down the man who betrayed her, racing to reclaim the prototype before his greed upends the nation.