A private detective named Lorenzo Holmes has carved out a life in Old Dunling, a sprawling metropolis of cogs and smokestacks, over the past six years. When a perplexing mystery lands on his desk, the case unravels in the most disturbing way imaginable. A gunshot pierced through Wol's cervical vertebrae, rupturing his carotid artery and causing catastrophic internal hemorrhaging. Death should have come swiftly, yet something sinister defied all logic. Though his brain had ceased functioning, his heart continued its frantic rhythm, his body refusing to surrender as it bled fresh crimson from the fatal wounds.