A fairly ordinary guy is living his life in Los Angeles with a new dog. He is a bike courier by day and a poet, and a male escort by night treating old ladies a good time.

A 2020-year-old Chinese book shows up at an auction. Wolf Meyer buys it cheap because no one recognizes its significance to the world. He meets a girl, beautiful redhead Poppy Ryan. They start an affair. Strange events occur in their lives (the house is suddenly set on fire, pets disappear, the main character experiences mysterious phenomenons like knocking sounds in the middle of the night, pawprints in the bathroom, reflections in mirrors).

Together they investigate China with the help of professor Xiao Tan. They meet monsters in Beijing. The Book predicts a deadline for a significant disaster that hits their city (Los Angeles) and will kill many people. Can they stop the prophecy? The answer is the Book. By defeating the monsters, he gets into another state of mind and reads the Book differently.

The message he now reads in the Book (the riddle) is explained to him, and he knows how to save Los Angeles. Then the Book disappears, and Poppy with it. She played him all along and turned out to be an ancient monster as well. She is out there to control the world.