When the drowning death of a fellow scuba diver propels author E. Giles Scott Jr. to wrestle with the deeper questions of life and death, he is swept up into a most unlikely adventure. Loading his Volvo with camping gear, Scott quits his job as an office copier technician to join eccentric friends who are, like many of their generation, living off the land in West Virginia. Sleeping in woods that locals called “Rocky Hollar,” seeking enlightenment alongside seekers who hate religion as much as he does, Scott hungers to discover how he fits into a universe designed by a creator he does not yet know.

In Hooked, Scott tells the story of the nine months he spent in the woods and a three-month stint hitchhiking across the country. He narrates how he looked under every rock and philosophy for answers only God had until he was lured by one relentless divine fisherman.

From a Hindu Ashram in Baltimore, to a primitive hippie-infested island off Canada, Scott rejects one false lure after another. In this tale that begins in the ocean’s depths, Hooked shares the story of how one crafty angler eventually hooked his prize catch.