Sanchy Panchy and Other Stories

Surprises, unexpected turns of events, and offbeat characters run through these five eclectic stories.

In Twins, Alvin and Julian are fraternal twins and have opposite personalities, but their love for each other keeps them joined at the hip as they face life-changing crises. Alvin's crisis is all in his head, his doctor tells him, but it is affecting his marriage, job, and outlook on life. Julian's crisis involves alcoholism and making sense of his marriage to a woman he hardly knows.

In Sanchy Panchy, Sancho gets a call from an implausible source, following which his personality changes overnight from meek and shy to assertive and outgoing. He sees the call as a gift from heaven, but he learns there is a price to pay. He also faces an existential question: Who is the better person, the pre-call Sancho or the after-call Sancho?

In A Grand Gesture, the head of state's title is Savior of the People and he wields absolute power. Congress has been dissolved, and the Supreme Court has been placed in permanent recess. He believes his approval rating is off the charts, and when he learns it is not, he comes up with a farfetched scheme to shore it up. The consequences are both tragic and hilarious.

In The Ukrainian, Katarina is gorgeous as a goddess, and Emil, a sixtyish billionaire, is powerfully attracted to her. He covets a tryst with her as he's never coveted anything before, but his loyalty to his wife holds him back. Then he comes up with a possible solution: What if she was part of the tryst? The outcome is not what he had in mind.

In The Earthquake, David is visiting his recently widowed sister in Santiago, Chile, when a major earthquake brings massive death and destruction to the city. David becomes the de facto leader of a group of survivors whose sole aim is to stay alive. Their priority? To find water, food, and shelter while waiting for help to arrive.