A Cold and Shallow Shore: An Oregon Coast Mystery
A Cold and Shallow Shore: An Oregon Coast Mystery

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published: 2022-01-27

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13:

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Gage hates birthdays. So when his daughter throws him a surprise party on the coldest night the Oregon coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs has seen in years, Gage finds himself in an equally frosty mood. And when a police cruiser stops him as he trudges along Highway 101, minding his own business, he can't imagine the night could get any worse. Oh, but it does. For the cranky private investigator with the bum knee, it can always get worse. When the cops collar one of the people closest to Gage for murder, the desperate hours ahead become a frantic push to right a presumed injustice. Add in a daughter’s secret life, a bad boy Hollywood star, and a troubled new police chief with something to prove, and the night doesn't just get worse. It forces a quickly unraveling Gage to choose between cold, uncomfortable truths—about himself, about someone he loves—and shallow but comforting deceptions.

The Dragon Lottery
The Dragon Lottery

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published: 2021-10-16

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13:

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Win the lottery? Congrats! You get to fight the dragon—to the death! Each summer, the kingdom of Dunbury holds a lottery. The prize? The right to face the Black Dragon in a fight to the death. Nobody ever returns. Widespread hunger. Banned Books. Harsh royal decrees to keep the citizens in line. After nearly fifty years, the poor, downtrodden people in the isolated country between the mountains and the sea have lost all hope. Somehow, mysteriously, the cruel King Goodheart controls the dragon. And with the dragon, no one dares defy him. Until thirteen-year-old Lucky Grayblock, the clumsy, gangly, decidedly unlucky assistant in the dusty old library, finally becomes eligible for the dragon lottery … and discovers one last chance to turn everyone’s luck around. “Scott is one of those rare writers who can and does cross genres, and do it well. You never know what kind of story you’ll get from him, but you do know that it’ll be good.” — Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Hugo Award-Winning Writer and Editor

Ask Hagan
Ask Hagan

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published:

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13:

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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.

Looking for Little Red
Looking for Little Red

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published:

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13:

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On a rainy night at a tiny Oregon college, a shadowy figure at the back of the hall interrupts Bullwick Farley's mythology lecture: "Little Red Riding Hood has done something terrible," he says, "and I desperately need your help before it's too late." Just another story in a class all about stories? A myth, a fable, a tale told and retold? The students might think so. But ten years after leaving a life where even the strangest stories turn out to be true, Farley faces a choice. Stick with his comfortable, if lonely, life as a professor. Or risk it all to go looking for the woman who broke his heart. A mystery with a twist, a touching love story, and a new take on a time-honored fairy tale, Looking for Little Red provides rare insights on the power of stories to shape our lives, and the importance of memories, even painful ones.

The Goon and the Glass Swan
The Goon and the Glass Swan

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published: 2024-08-26

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13:

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They called him Goon. Not the Goon. Just Goon, as if it was his name, which it sort of was … During a mafia hit with his sharpshooting partner, a thug named Goon finds a little girl hiding in a closet. Until now, Goon has been content playing the part of the dumb sidekick, but how far will he go when the girl's life is on the line? This riveting tale of redemption and sacrifice kicks off Carter's latest collection, six stories of crime, revenge, lost loves, and heroic choices. Whether the tale involves a down-and-out screenwriter looking for a fresh start as a journalist in his hometown, a grieving widower meeting an assassin-for-hire on an urban park bench, or a mysterious payphone at a rural gas station that might not be quite of this world, each of these powerful tales leaves its own indelible mark on the reader's imagination.

Bury the Dead in Driftwood
Bury the Dead in Driftwood

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published: 2019-08-12

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13:

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Harriet Abel never shows up for her appointment. Irritating as hell? Sure. It's hard enough to work as a private investigator without potential clients standing you up. Of course, it's difficult to show up when you're dead. A revered community figure in the Oregon coast town of Barnacle Bluffs, the teacher extraordinaire never gets a chance to explain why she wants to hire Garrison Gage before her body turns up in a sandy grave. Seldom deterred by the lack of a client, Gage barrels forward intent on discovering the woman's killer. Unfortunately, the professional curmudgeon stirs up a lot more trouble than he expects, putting innocent people in imminent danger. In the past, Gage always triumphed over whatever dark forces stood in his way, but this time he may have gone too far — and he won't be the only one paying the price.

A Kiss of Sand and Sorrow: An Oregon Coast Mystery
A Kiss of Sand and Sorrow: An Oregon Coast Mystery

Author: Scott William Carter

Publisher: Flying Raven Press

Published:

Total Pages: 373

ISBN-13:

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Gage might go mad. With most of inland Oregon enduring a record-setting heatwave, the hordes descend on Barnacle Bluffs seeking cooler ocean air, and it's all the curmudgeonly private investigator can do to keep from shooting somebody. What's the harm in one fewer tourist, anyway? Yet when a desperate young woman shows up claiming her depressed husband has gone missing, Gage will need all of his wits to find the man before something terrible happens. His complicated feelings for the beautiful but headstrong police chief, with dark secrets of her own, only make solving the case more challenging … especially when those secrets eventually bring Gage face to face with one of the most savage foes ever to cross his path.