The first figure raises his crossbow, tilting his head to pinpoint the exact position of the thing in the bushes. It has stopped running now, and is muttering something. Some kind of prayer, a call for its mother, its father: anyone who might help it.Something sinister is going on in the stinking slums of London. Sideshow acts are going missing . . . men wearing animal masks and eye goggles are hunting them down and killing them for sport. But who are this fiendish Hunters' Club? And what is the reason for their cruel game?Sheba the wolfgirl and Pyewacket the witch's imp know all about life in a sideshow. But now they are the Carnival, private investigators working to help unusual people like them. Teaming up with new recruits half-cat Inji, her extraordinary brother, the armadillo-like Sil and Glyph the psychic, it's a race against time . . . to track down the mask-wearing villains, before anyone else comes to harm!

Kieran Larwood moved to the UK from Kenya when he was two and now lives on the Isle of Wight. He has worked as a reception teacher, archery instructor, and in a cake factory! He won the Blue Peter Best Story Award.Sam Usher is a multi award-winning illustrator. His books include the Seasons series, The Birthday Duck, The Most-Loved Bear and The Umbrella Mouse. Also a talented pianist, when he's not scribbling you'll find him perfecting a fiendishly difficult Chopin piece.