Johnny Marathon, CIA spy extraordinaire, awakens in New York City with no memory, only a soul-deep need to track down a woman he cannot remember but knows he loves. Cryptic clues, strange dreams and an annoying homeless man reveal to Johnny he is a fictitious hero in a novel being written by Judd Myrvin. The fledgling writer's lack of writing skills has trapped his hero and a cast of supporting characters in literary purgatory until he relinquishes control and lets them tell their own story. Judd is Johnny's only link to salvation and reunion.

All stories need conflict and for Johnny two rival mob bosses, a straight razor-totting dwarf and a scoundrel in a suit, along with a voluptuous hit-woman and the entire NYPD police force, are each determined to extract Judd's name and address from him. To escape purgatory and keep his status as the story's main character, Johnny must track down his creator before his pursuers.

Through one misadventure after another, Johnny tracks down Judd, only to be cornered in the writer's apartment by an epic shootout between the mobsters and the entire NYPD. The shoot out ends with the meanest cop in control who orders the writer to change the storyline, making him the story's hero. But Judd refuses to cooperate, his characters still trapped, or are they?