The resulting mayhem is investigated by Casey, a policewoman trapped in a failing marriage. Casey and Alan are each secretly addicted to their own guilty reading pleasures, and, victims of an angry Muse, find themselves sucked into them: first one of Casey's romances, and then, while they're distracted by their unexpected passion, the lethal and very real machinations of Alan's latest thriller. Their fight to survive takes them from the halls of academia to the broken streets of New York, building to a spectacular final battle with the ancient dead Gods who rule the subconscious, and a surprising resolution that breaks then mends their uncertain hearts.