Ed Kaminsky's life is caught in an inexorable downward spiral of misfortune and misery. He's forty seven years old, his career has stalled, his boss despises him, his wife is no longer interested in him, his kids consider him irrelevant and uninspiring, and his modest nest egg of savings has just gone up in smoke in the crucible of the latest Wall Street Ponzi scheme. But in the midst of this gloom, he discovers that he possesses a rare and unique gift: the ability to read people's minds. It occurs to him that he if he can somehow hone and sharpen this skill to do his bidding for him, he would be able to achieve all the power, riches and acclaim his heart has always craved. What he fails to grasp, however, is that this gift doesn't come without certain unsavory strings attached.