Convinced that her cousin's death was not an accident Kate Berrisford travels to Rio de Janeiro, determined to uncover the truth.

In a world of squalor, masked by the glamour of the carnival capital, she discovers a world where guns and knives rule. Gangs roam, abandoned children are killed and the perpetrators are acquitted. Drugs, ritualistic murder and depravity are the norm.

Kate is abducted by sewer rats (abandoned children) who live in the storm drains. She finds herself in an environment where human life is of little value. Her chances are slim: her fate left in the hands of a drugged, gun slinging teenage boy.

Who else will have to die for her to survive?