Robert Porter is enjoying the fruits of success: a best-selling novel featuring a hard-nosed detective circa 1947 named Joe January, and a lucrative contract for the sequel. But his world comes crashing down around him when he witnesses his wife's infidelity.As Porter sinks into a morass of grief over her abandonment, only one person can help him regain his self-esteem and dignity. One man alone can help Porter set things right ... and that person's name is Joe January. But he doesn't even exist... or does he?