Like all citizens because the Ruining, Carrington Hale knows the need for this day. But she never expected the moment she’d spent a lifetime planning for-her Choosing ceremony-to end in catastrophe. Ripped from her family members, she’ll spend her times serving as a Lint, the cheapest level of culture. She knows it’s her duty to follow the true way of the Expert. But as Carrington begins this nightmare, gossips of rebellion rattle her values. Though the whispers contradict everything she’s been told, they resonate deep within. Then Carrington emerges an unprecedented opportunity at the life she’s always imagined, yet she can’t tremble the sensation that it might be an illusion. Having a killer concentrating on Lints and problem threatening the best levels of the Expert, Carrington must discover the reality before it destroys her.