What good is a toy that will wind down? What if you could put a heart in one? A real heart. One that beats and beats and doesn't stop. What couldn't you do if you could make a toy like that?

From the moment that the circus boy Mathias, takes a small roll of paper from the dying conjuror, his fate is sealed. For on it is the key to a terrifying secret, and there are those who would kill him rather than have it told.

Pursued by the sinister Dr Leiter with his exquisite doll and malevolent dwarf, preyed on by the circus master and his vicious, painted wife, Mathias is drawn into a relentless nightmare. A nightmare that will lead him to the Toymaker, and to a knife as cruel as frost.

A stunning and original debut from a talented new author, with haunting illustrations by Gary Blythe.