Odd occurrences are taking place, the sewers are gushing black water, the earth shakes, and people are inexplicably going mad.

Moz meets Pearl, a mysterious girl with a knack for music, who he teams up with to save a guitar that a crazy woman throws out of her window.

Minerva uses these traditional methods such as garlic and rosemary to keep off the worst effects of the parasite, taught to her by Luz.

The band soon receives a recording contract with Astor Michaels, a man who is a carrier, who is known for having discovered a new type of music called "New Sound".

Moz begins playing in the subway to help raise money for the band, until things turn strange one night.

Before he gets the chance to attack it, the "Angels" - seemingly defenders of the city against the people who have lost their minds - jump down to fight the worm.

They attempt to bring Moz to New Jersey to treat his parasite, but he runs away, fearing letting down the band by missing their first gig.

The New Watch comes to defeat the worm, and rounds up the whole band to take them to the New Jersey lab, but not before Moz smashes his beloved guitar because of the parasite.

Moz receives treatment for the parasite in New Jersey, and when he has almost completely recovered, he and the rest of the band members visit the Shrink, a character included in Peeps.

None of the previous bands employed by Astor Michaels were able to achieve this same result because one member was infected, but not the lead singer.

Moz's good friend, the two had played guitar together for years before meeting Pearl and forming a real band.

Pearl's friend from musical school, Minerva (often called simply Min) has a strange disease, revealed in Peeps to be a parasite.

Scott Westerfeld has described Minerva as another in his long line of 'sexy but crazy' girls he writes about, much like Melissa from Midnighters.

However, it is strongly implied that this is not her original name, considering her history in a special needs school that left her oddly tainted from a possibly negative experience.

The Nightmayor (a pun on the word nightmare), who was only alluded to in Peeps, has short introductions to all parts of the book, describing historical events from a unique perspective.