James Moody has grown weary of the after lands, and wants nothing more than to rebuild a quiet life in the living world with his resurrected girlfriend Karla. He only wishes Karla felt the same. But she has long given up on life and yearns only to build a future with James as Freesouls in the Liminality. James' bliss prevents him from joining her on her frequent excursions to the after-realm. But then horrible things start happening to their friends in the UK. James remains blocked until one morning Karla disappears out of the blue. Despair restored, he can once again travel to the Liminality, where he discovers that the Seraph overlords of Penult have launched an all-out campaign to drive all rebel souls back where they 'belong' in the tunnels of Root. James joins the resistance while again being forced to search for Karla across two realms.

James Moody is restless. Finally dead after a long run of living with one foot in the grave, he and his fellow 'trespassers' have rebuilt and re-populated the surface of Root after the war with Penult. But his good friend Urszula, a half-soul with a presence in two realms, remains a prisoner in the Pennies' Judicial Temple, evading their cruel brand of 'justice' by clinging to life, walking a tightrope of optimism while the 'Friends of Penult' attempt to topple her mood by murdering all that she loves. With the help of Gaia, a 'secret' admirer from one of the more enlightened after realms, James attempts to free Urszula before her soul is lost to Avernus, an after realm from which no soul ever returns, or do they?