Zachary Sykes

Mateiro Alavez is a soot-blinded chimney sweep navigating the claustrophobic, wrought-iron flues of Cadernera—a sprawling industrial metropolis trapped under a massive artificial smog canopy. Armed with hand-pumped brine-canisters and extreme agility, Mateiro fights to protect his young apprentice from Ash-Weavers, chitinous fire-feeding arachnids infesting the coal-gas pipelines. But when he discovers a monstrous nest inside a boardinghouse, he realizes the arachnid plague is no natural disaster. The city's oligarchs are actively chaining open the gas valves and seeding the monsters to incinerate the slum wards. Outmatched and suffocating in the dark, Mateiro must weaponize his brutal profession to tear down an empire of iron and gas, turning the masters' deadly exhaust network against them.

Tan Boyan has two rules: keep the engine running, and never let the refrigerated terrariums get above sixteen degrees Celsius. Breaking the second rule means two dozen rare, highly agitated venomous serpents wake up in the back of his van. Unfortunately, his radiator just blew on the most treacherous mountain highway in the province. Even worse, Officer Meng Qiaoling has been tailing his bumper for forty kilometers, determined to give him the ticket of a lifetime. But the illicit cargo contains a synthetic peptide worth millions to an armed cartel, and their hit squads have just blocked the only bridge down the mountain. To survive, the smuggler and the cop must drive like maniacs, dodge sniper fire, and avoid getting bitten by their own cargo.