Johnny Barrett, a misguided and lonely soul, devotes his time to reading crime fiction novels in the hope that one day he might become one of the characters he reads about. While reading his favorite Mickey Spillane book, he falls asleep and dreams of a helpless girl in dire need of a hero. In his dream, he becomes the mighty John Baretta who looks danger in the eye and laughs. When he wakes, he finds a note in his book that says, "Remember me. They're gonna die. See me. Help me." Johnny sets out on a quest to find the dire maiden in his dream and save her from a criminal's grip. The story juxtaposes Johnny's actual blunder of an adventure with what he envisions in his mind to be this great caper that will prove he can be the stoic hero of the books he reads. Let's just hope Johnny can live up to the hype of his own mental status.