The savage battle to the death between hunter and mole is just the sort of adventure Sham wanted when he signed up for a life on the open rails of the Railsea. Then the crew comes across a wrecked train, at first it's a distraction from the excitement. But the impossible and dangerous salvage that Sham finds among the wreckage leads to considerably more than he bargained for. Now he has a secret to keep and he's being hunted on all sides: pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage scrabblers.
It might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the Railsea.