Ask Hagan — Scott William Carter

Ask Hagan anything. Anything at all. Even how to outwit a madman ...Once a promising young novelist with big literary dreams, John Winsley wakes up on the other side of forty as a third-rate hack with a perpetual hangover. Fueled by bitterness, he creates an obnoxious online persona as something of a lark—a funhouse version of Ann Landers named Hagan T. Stone with mad eyes, a black beard shaped like a spade, and an irreverent wit. The Ask Hagan advice column becomes a surprising worldwide hit. And it makes Winsley a very rich man.Wracked with guilt about the wife and daughter he abandoned, Winsley feels conflicted about his anonymous success ... until an imposter claiming to be Hagan T. Stone shows up to reap all the rewards. Now Winsley only has to answer one question: How far will he go to get what he deserves?This taut, suspenseful tale kicks off Carter's latest collection. From a mysterious elevator in an Iowa cornfield to a crowded superstore where android spouses are bought like toasters, these six provocative forays into Carter's wide-ranging imagination never fail to surprise.