In Kotzwinkle’s absorbing tale, the spotlight falls on David Caspian, a triumphant actor basking in the glory of Hollywood’s action-packed blockbusters. Yet, beneath the surface of his glittering success, a sinister transformation unfolds. Caspian is slowly being usurped by a mysterious doppelgänger—Felix Falkenhayn, a man entrenched in the turmoil of wartime Germany. As Caspian finds himself at a career crossroads—pondering whether to coast on past triumphs, as advised by his agent, or to embrace the artistry of his craft—he is simultaneously engulfed by the excess of a hedonistic lifestyle. His personal life crumbles, his work loses its spark, and his very identity splinters under the weight of escapist indulgences. Caspian's mind teeters on the brink of collapse, haunted by what seem to be episodes of psychic transference. This haunting duality might reflect the chasm an actor navigates when art intertwines too deeply with life, questioning his earthly achievements. His enigmatic psychic journeys to World War II Berlin are not mere flights of fancy but a calculated subconscious maneuver, thrusting him into a reality where every choice is fraught with consequence, and trivial pursuits can be fatal.

In his latest cinematic endeavor, the space saga Star Rover, Caspian’s metamorphosis takes center stage, hinting at an actor as a kind of psychic wanderer. During filming, Caspian delivers the performance of a lifetime, seamlessly transforming into "Felix". Sessions with his insightful psychiatrist seeking to unravel the enigma of Felix’s persistent appearances offer Kotzwinkle a canvas for exploring themes of introspection and intellectual curiosity, challenging conventional storytelling boundaries.

As Caspian is irresistibly drawn deeper into this alternate reality, his companions and collaborators reappear with eerie familiarity in Berlin, shifting the narrative lens from the sun-drenched streets of Los Angeles to the shadowy avenues of wartime Berlin. This transition casts the trivial disputes of Hollywood as pale reflections of the dire struggle for survival in Europe. As his Los Angeles existence wanes into irrelevance and predictability, his Berlin life crescendos with gravity and urgency, threatening the essence of his soul. Although his influence in Hollywood is substantial, his control in Germany is practically non-existent. In this precarious setting, Caspian allies with The Weasel, a postmodern trickster defying evil with cunning and subversion. Together, they embark on a desperate mission to rescue a doomed girl—a parallel to his own daughter, Alica—and rekindle a faded romance with a woman reminiscent of his wife, Carol, all while evading the Gestapo’s relentless pursuit.

Ironically, despite his limited influence over unfolding events, playing "Felix" becomes Caspian’s most exhilarating role. The "script," drawn from the depths of his psyche, compels him forward, tension mounting with each revelation. The Weasel ingeniously subverts every Nazi tenet, leveraging his dark insights to befuddle their agents while maintaining sanity through a macabre sense of humor amidst terror. "Felix" follows, his idealism repeatedly challenged. In a world rife with villainy, The Weasel thrives by outmaneuvering those who would destroy him, governed by a set of unspoken yet vital tenets. Caspian admires The Weasel’s cool composure and is captivated by his relentless cunning—an actor’s appreciation of a masterful performer whose missteps could mean not just a loss of role but of life itself. This perilous dance invigorates The Weasel and exhilarates Caspian, though the same pitfalls that plague Caspian in Los Angeles emerge in Berlin. Misguided by lingering romantic ideals, he ignores The Weasel’s shrewd counsel, leading them both into a foreseeable trap, culminating in The Weasel’s demise and "Felix’s" capture by the Gestapo.

In embodying "Felix," Caspian taps into a profound element of his psyche, one that unleashes a torrent of emotional intensity, elevating his...