Freedom is taken for granted by the free, but the city that never sleeps is too busy to notice. In a self-obsessed world, every moment is shared, and every move is posted. If you don’t follow, you don’t care. If you don’t care, you’re not worth the time. In New York City, the convenience of now is the expectation, and everyone can have anything when they want it. But hidden just below the city's pulse is a terrifying secret. Nothing is free, everything comes at a price, and freedom can be taken in an instant. The city grows by half a million people per annum. Each year over 20,000 go missing – that’s more than 50 per day. Of these, 6,500 are runaways, and 12,700 are found alive, but 1,400 are never found. Wil Stevens' comfortable life changes forever when his friend vanishes without a trace. No cell contact. No messages. No posts. She's offline. In a search for the truth, he uncovers more than he could have ever imagined. There’s a sinister force that controls everything he knows and it will stop at nothing to keep the secret. Palliatopia is the place you don't want to be, and the place you can never leave. They will take your life. They will take your dreams. They will take your future.