One of the real pleasures of writing entertaining fiction is that sometimes the characters take hold and pull the author along. That's a good sign; it means the story is about realistic people in interesting situations. This story, The Book of Three Pages, started as a short story, but became a novelette even more intriguing than its title. Set in both old and modern day Mexico, it's a remarkable mix of adventure, romance and the passage of time, a tale that will stick with you long after you've read it.The Waterhole, the second story in this book, is set in the nineteenth century Southwest and tells of two young men from vastly different cultures who come together in dangerous circumstances. In the third story, Time Tangle in Talavera Canyon, a university professor and a soldier-each highly suspicious of the other-must cooperate to survive in a wilderness neither really understands. The last story, A Tale of Two Friends, tells of two orphaned boys who grew up as buddies, only to see their lives take a surprising twist. These stories are the kind you find hard to put down once you crack the cover.As described in his book of true short stories titled The Other End of the Sky, the author chose a highly diverse lifestyle. He has been a ranch hand, an international gemstone dealer, a truck driver, a competitive marksman and an electronic engineer. He holds a commercial pilot's license and is both a retired research physicist and a retired police officer. This experience has helped him build a wide genre of fictional short stories like those in another book titled The Last Asset. He and his wife Angie live in New Mexico with Monty and Chiquita, two Chihuahuas who hang out on his desk to help with typing.