In the dark underbelly of Victorian London a boy named Joe scavenges for scraps in the rat-infested sewers of the East End. They call it toshing . / Viciously exploited by the women he knows as Mother a monstrous criminal mastermind who controls everything in the boy s small world - Joe scrapes a living in a city where no one can be trusted. / Then a chance encounter with a runaway girl and a madman turns Joe s world upside down. But is it a change for the better or are things about to get a lot worse for the boy they call Joe Rat?