Bryan's sly, minimalist debut is written in the form of an Afterword to his bestselling novel, The Deity Next Door. The catch is that The Deity Next Door does not exist. The fictional essay opens with Bryan basking in his record-breaking sales as he answers his fans' questions about the novel. As he describes his creative process, he gradually reveals the story of The Deity Next Door, which follows a modern-day American messiah named Blaine, a secular computer programmer in New York City who is astounded to discover that he has divine powers ranging from making objects levitate to healing his cancer-stricken son. Bryan explains the various theological questions he wrestled with as he wrote, digressing frequently to discuss his relationship with a group of evangelicals at a Dallas Bible college who fueled his interest in Christian spirituality. He also probes the literary problems of writing about a messiah and discusses the reactions of his agent and editor.