We don't know exactly when Literature® takes place and we don't know exactly where. All we know is that Philip Marlowe would fit right in.
We don't get Marlowe though. We get Billy Stringer. And Billy is on nobody's trail.
He's the prey.
The day hasn't begun very well for Billy. He just messed up his first big assignment, he's definitely going to be late for work, his girlfriend won't get back to him and, for reasons she has something to do with, he's dressed like a clown.
Also, he's pretty sure someone is going to kill him today. But then, that's an occupational hazard, when you're a terrorist.
He's a bookworm too, which wouldn't be a problem–or particularly interesting–except that in Billy's world, fiction is banned. Reading it is what makes him an outlaw.
Why? Because people need to get to work.
It's fight or flight time for Billy and he's made his choice. But he has to see Jane, even if it's for the last time–to explain it all to her, before she finds out what he has become. That means staying alive for a little while.
And the odds are against him.