"Never trust anyone without a gift." That's the motto of fifteen-year-old Lizzie Nelson, a wharf rat in a Restoration London much like our own. The other rats call her "Lucky Lizzie," even though her parents are dead, her brother DANIEL is missing, and there's a price on her head. But her gift, seeing the future, has saved her life.
It's 1662, Charles II rules, and in this England, only children develop supernatural powers called gifts, growing out of them if they manage to survive to adulthood. The Nobility covet gifted children, sending trackers to capture them. Lord Hazelton is the worst of them all: children abducted for him are never seen again. Hazelton has heard of Lizzie's visions and wants her for his own. Her luck may have just run out.
Gilbert, Hazelton's tracker, corners Lizzie in an alley, and she must set him on fire to escape. He survives, but horribly disfigured. Now he wants revenge, planning to disfigure her, too, before delivery to his master.
Angry that no one protects the orphans living by the river, Lizzie decides to start the Wharf Rat Guild. The rats swear to protect each other and keep their hideout, Haven, a secret, on pain of death. Everyone's safety depends on trusting each other.
Then Mags, Lizzie's young friend, is kidnapped from inside Haven itself. Lizzie, with her allies Kat and Esmeralda, go in pursuit. They discover Hazelton's plot against the king at the village fair near Hazelton's Manor. Lizzie and Esmeralda are captured by Hazelton's men.
Imprisoned with other gifted children, Lizzie learns Hazelton plans to kill them all: a fortuneteller warned him that children would be his downfall. Every child in his stable will be killed, once his plot against the King is in motion. It's up to the three friends to free the children and stop the plot that will plunge the country into civil war.
A fast-paced tale of spies, betrayal, and strange powers, The Wharf Rat Guild will appeal to fans of heroines like Enola Holmes or those in Gail Carriger's finishing school series.
