While trying to board a train, they are ambushed by wights and held in a small shed at gunpoint until Hugh, who had managed to evade capture, uses the bees in his stomach to save his friends.

In the city, they see horrible things left by bombers as they search for Miss Wren's flock of peculiar pigeons, which the group believes can lead them to her; they find a young girl named Sam who can suffer bad injuries and be made new, but, she doesn't survive the war.

They manage to make it to Saint Paul's Cathedral thanks to the book, where they enter an underground crypt and find two peculiar children named Joel and Peter, who are echolocators and seem to share one mind.

Melina initially distrusts them, but after Horace proves his peculiarity she begs travel with them, bringing along a pigeon that they believe will lead them to Miss Wren.

Meanwhile, Jacob, Millard, and Emma deduce that the wights are extracting peculiar souls and feeding them to hollowgasts, allowing them to attain the ability to pass through time loops.

Jacob uses his cell phone to call his father to reassure him that he is alive, and discovers he has yet another hidden talent apart from seeing hollowgasts – the ability to speak to and control them as well.

Booklist highlighted how, like the first novel, Hollow City is "generously illustrated with peculiar period photographs that capture and enhance the eerie mood and mode."