Five short stories. Five people. From Paris to Honolulu. At moments that matter most, each is all alone. But it’s then that she has the clearest vision of herself.At a Paris Café. In early 70s Paris, a naive and eager young man chooses not to go with his buddies on a trip around the country on his summer vacation. He goes it alone in Paris.The Gypsy. A boy recently uprooted to Paris by his parents’ divorce learns some life lessonsfrom an old gypsy he watches through a third-floor apartment window.The Sum of a Young Life. Finding a young woman’s journal at a Berkeley coffeehouse upsets anurbane but blasé young man’s precise routine.In a Few Fast Heartbeats. After her husband’s heart surgery, a middle-aged wife and mother istaking him home, back to the old comforting routine. But her life changes in the blink of an eye.Fragrant Green Mangoes. A young woman loses her beloved Grandma after her most recentvisit. In her grief, she finds the language of love, not in roses, but in fragrant green mangoes.

Richter’s War: Case of the Japanese Alien
In this sci-fi thriller short story, a World War II battle engulfs Los Angeles, and sweeps a hard-boiled detective into