Author Otto Dean braves his fears of impending death as he sets out to write a novel opposing the controlling presence of heartless artwork & propaganda in an alternate 1980s America after being recognized for his opinion piece in the newspaper. Upon visiting a local art hot spot and speaking with a woman named Lorelei, he learns of recent murders in the area & encounters an uncanny resemblance between his own recurring dreams and a local artist's work, leading him down a further rabbit hole as he tries to catch hold of the elusive artist Inez Sabalenka.