Published in a dozen countries throughout the world with movie rights sold to Lawrence Gordon at Universal Picures, K-PAX introduced its readers to a fascinating young man who calls himself "prot" and claims to be a visitor from the planet K-PAX, an idyllic world without wars, government, or religion. Dropped off at the Manhattan Psychiatric Institute, he falls under the care of psychiatrist Gene Brewer who discovers that except for certain supernatural abilities, the "alien" prot appears to be sane. In On a Beam of Light, Dr. Brewer attempts to determine whether prot is real or simply a schizophrenic personality of the young man named Robert. When prot claims to be returning to his planet K-PAX for good, Dr. Brewer must dig deeper and deeper to find the key to unlock this man's psyche, before he is left with a shattered, broken shell.