'The Whirlwind', written by "Anthony Street" (pen name only), is the best-selling novel of the last ten years, its success largely attributed to agent Carol Ainsley (the well-born daughter of a U.S. Senator and a famed actress) who has already sold the movie rights to further capitalize on the success she has already generated. No one except Street's publisher knows his real identity. Henry Pepper, Associate Editor of Knickerbocker Magazine, is assigned by his boss to write a multi-installment article on the success that is Carol Ainsley. Carol is amenable to the idea until she learns that Henry does not want to write a standard biography, but rather an in depth profile of her workings. She is reluctant to make public many of her working secrets, especially anything that may place her or her company in a bad light. Her next step, which she has the exclusive contract to do, is find the right actor to play the hyper-masculine, romantic yet adventurous lead character of the film version of 'The Whirlwind'. However, based on what she learns of "Anthony Street", written in the inside jacket of 'The Whirlwind', she believes the real man using the pen name would actually be the ideal man to portray his own character. She does whatever she can (and it is a considerable effort) to find, convince, and train him, which is not as easy as it sounds and which will have unintended consequences. And she has to do it under the watchful eye of Henry Pepper, who takes great pleasure in making her life as difficult as possible, as he has more than one motive for and a distinct method to his madness.