title: Flying Time: Stories and Half-Stories
author: Michael Brown
description: This collection suffers from an identity problem. Although most of the longer first-person pieces appear to be memoirs, they are never noted as such. They are loosely linked by subject matter, touching on elderly relatives of Russian origin, and several seem like promising beginnings to more complete pieces, particularly a reminiscence about the narrator's father and the times they have eaten salty eel together and one about visiting an elderly aunt in Leningrad. Some of the works originated as poems, and many of the shorter pieces do not seem any more specific or fleshed out as prose. These cover topics such as memories aroused while making soup and a terse reminder left by a companion. The one full-length story satisfies with its account of a woman living alone in a desolate area who ventures into the woods to scare off hunters and saves a gruff man who has been shot but refuses to go to the hospital. The strong narrative flow of this story only whets the appetite for other equally complete fare, which unfortunately never arrives. Ritchie ( Tightening the Circle Over Eel Country ) has an engaging style that is ill served by this jumble. <br />Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  **Love at First Flight**
  
   **Marie Force**
  
    
  
   **Table of Contents**
  
  Chapter 1
  
  Chapter 2
  
  Chapter 3
  
  Chapter 4
  
  Chapter 5
  
  Chapter 6
  
  Chapter 7
  
  Chapter 8
  
  Chapter 9
  
  Chapter 10
  
  Chapter 11
  
  Chapter 12
  
  Chapter 13
  
  Chapter 14
  
  Chapter 15
  
  Chapter 16
  
  Chapter 17
  
  Chapter 18
  
  Chapter 19
  
  Chapter 20
  
  Chapter 21
  
  Chapter 22
  
  Chapter 23
  
  Chapter 24
  
  Chapter 25
  
  Chapter 26
  
  Chapter 27
  
  Chapter 28
  
  Chapter 29
  
  Chapter 30
  
  Chapter 31
  
  Chapter 32
  
  Chapter 33
  
  Chapter 34
  
  Chapter 35
  
  Chapter 36
  
  Author’s Note
  
  About the Author
  
    
  
   **CHAPTER 1**
  
  THE BOSS HAD PICKED A HELL OF A TIME TO GET CHATTY.
  
  A bead of sweat rolled down Michael's back. As Baltimore City State's Attorney
  Tom Houlihan pelted him with a rapid-fire series of pre-trial questions over
  the phone, the departure time for Michael's flight to Florida crept closer. He
  needed an exit strategy, and he needed it now.
  
  Travelers swarmed through the gate area while Michael struggled to stay
  focused on the 