Cut To Wagstaff

By Jim Berkin

Professor Wagstaff - freelance intelligence agent, true Renaissance man, insouciant socially spastic pain in the ass - believes the universe reveals its hidden truths to him and him alone via pop culture Jungian synchronicities. Then he creates his own missions accordingly.The subplots to the over-arching narrative of the universe are all around us. That song playing over the speakers in a restaurant, the face of a stranger reminding you of an actor in an old movie, the dream about a television show you had last night... all become driving clues for Wagstaff, sending him on his way to solve mysteries, murders, and even save the world And of course, living up to his Groucho Marx inspired code name spouting nonstop irreverence. For Wagstaff, there are no accidents. There are no coincidences. There are only set-ups for punch lines.

In this first of the series, one of Wagstaff's colleagues goes missing, taking Wagstaff down a trail of not-so-coincidental coincidences that lead to stolen diamonds, missing lady scientists, accidents that look more like murders and a secret plot to take over the brains of everyone on Earth. Wagstaff follows the narrative he concocts in his unique mind combining synchronicities only he can see from The Third Man, Diamonds Are Forever, Rigoletto and a little David Bowie. Is a reclusive billionaire hot dog magnate behind the murders? Or are larger sinister forces involved? Wagstaff's old flame keeps turning up wherever the clues lead... is that because a Groucho always needs a Margaret Dumont to play off of ... or is she more involved than she's telling?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1477532722
• ISBN13: 9781477532720
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"