When his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack committed by the sinister Bookman, young poet Orphan becomes involved in a web of secrets and lies. His quest to uncover the truth takes him from the hidden catacombs of a London on the brink of revolution, through pirate-infested seas, to the mysterious island that may hold the secret to the origin not only of the shadowy Bookman, but of Orphan himself.

Rémy Brunel, acrobat and former jewel thief, stayed behind in London when the circus left, but she is starting to feel lonely, so when magician Yannick, an old friend, turns up she decides to return to France and the circus with him--but detective Thaddeus Rec believes Yannick is up to no good, and determines to pursue them in an airship to win her back.

The journey begins on a ship at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage. Nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis runs away from school and seeks refuge with a reclusive uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits...