The Tech Empath

By Kari Kilgore

The Power Surrounds Us

Jena loves her quiet, solitary life.

Protecting her extra senses from the noise and distraction of a big city and a bigger world keep her balanced and happy.

Then a devastating series of events forces her out of her safe zone forever.

Can Jena repair the damage before the world falls apart?

 

Also available in Fantastic Shorts: Volume 3

 

An Excerpt from The Tech Empath:

An Unseen Beast That Touches Us All

 

Just before Jena went to sleep, her brother's warning about solar flares floated through her mind. She'd wondered before if Jake had a version of the same awareness she did, twisted into fear and conspiracy theories.

 

In any case, Jena hadn't altered her bedtime routine since the first time she'd sensed the electrical beast that hovered over and passed through the whole world. She touched her bedside lamp.

 

Not a sign of faltering in the power grid as far as she cared to feel.

 

All was well.

 

For now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spiral Publishing, Ltd
• Release date: Jan 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393223719

Kari Kilgore

Kari Kilgore started her first published novel Until Death in Transylvania, Romania, and finished it in Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where Stephen King got the idea for The Shining. That’s just one example of how real world inspiration drives her fiction. Kari’s first published novel Until Death was included on the Preliminary Ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in a First Novel in 2016. It was also a finalist for the Golden Stake Award at the Vampire Arts Festival in 2018. Recent professional short story sales include three to Fiction River anthology magazine, with the first due out in the September issue. Kari also has two stories in a holiday-themed anthology project with Kristine Kathryn Rusch due out over the holidays in 2019. Kari writes fantasy, science fiction, horror, and contemporary fiction, and she’s happiest when she surprises herself. She lives at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of the woods with her husband Jason Adams, various house critters, and wildlife they’re better off not knowing more about. Kari’s novels, novellas, and short stories are available at www.spiralpublishing.net, which also publishes books by Frank Kilgore and Jason Adams. For more information about Kari, upcoming publications, her travels and adventures, and random cool things that catch her attention, visit www.karikilgore.com.

Book preview

The Tech Empath

For All My Fellow Girl Geeks

THE TECH EMPATH

KARI KILGORE

SPIRAL PUBLISHING, LTD.

CHAPTER 1

Jena kicked her bare foot on the cool wooden floor of her front porch, pushing the swing into motion again. The chains groaned at the sudden adjustment, but not loud enough to drown out the sweet strains of Debussy floating through the early evening air.

One of the best things about her sometimes-creaky old Craftsman bungalow was the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra serenading her without having to leave home.

Even the dreamy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun sounded better when accompanied by night-blooming jasmine growing in her own yard and with a freezing-cold bottle of crisp apple cider from her own fridge.

She pushed again, lifting her toes and shifting her weight like she had on playground swings as a girl. Jena had no desire to try for the mythical loop over the top, like she had back then, but she still loved the floating sensation.

Atlanta lingered in the rare spring days when a cozy sweater and jeans went just fine with bare feet. Jena knew miserably hot and sticky days were right around the corner, when she’d be all too happy to stay inside in air-conditioned