The novel's plot is based on the author's interaction with Anthony Godby Johnson, the purported author of a book, A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story, both before and after Anthony is suspected of being a hoax.

Gabriel Noone is a gay writer whose late-night radio stories have brought him into the homes of millions.

Noone's publisher sends him the galleys of a memoir apparently written by a 13-year-old boy, Peter Lomax.

Noone contacts the boy and they start exchanging a series of phone calls that develop into a kind of father/son relationship.

Even a visit to their home is inconclusive, and the novel ends with Gabriel feeling that the value of the relationship to him is more important than whether or not Pete is real.