The grot : book one in the story of the Swamp City Grifters
(Book)

"Penn and Lipton Wise have set out to Falter City to make their fortune. It's the future, obviously, and things are pretty grim. The Australian landscape is traumatized. Plague is rampant. Machines only work as well as the poor sod pedaling them. Things are hotter and wetter than they used to be, giving the whole place the vibe of a sweaty armpit. Lippy and Penn are hoping to set up shop in this grimy boom-town, but they've got to stay frosty, because it's teeming with hustlers, swindlers, and scoundrels. It's the sort of place where a lucky moron could make an outrageous fortune in an afternoon and lose it all before bedtime. The sort of place where two enterprising teenagers could really make something of themselves. Or so they say"--