sci-fi mystery

The Astral Hacker

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In 2120, New America is the world leader in technology and individual freedom. Why, then, has seventeen-year-old Fae Luna felt like an isolated prisoner her entire life? She survived the worst of the foster care system by honing her skills as a top-level hacker and thanks to the support of her humanoid robot, Sunny, who is illegally upgraded to a human-level AI. Finally, she’s matched with a foster mom who treats her kindly. Fae slowly lets her guard down until a suspicious tragedy tears them apart. With no flesh-and-blood friends, she is forced to call Blaze, a guild-mate from her online holo-game, who introduces her to a motley crew of rebels and loyalists. When they dig into Fae’s mystery, they discover a far-reaching and deadly conspiracy. Fae promised her dying mother she would never alter her body with a brain implant, but with the Evo, her hacking skills would be unbeatable. Lethal battles and devastating consequences will challenge her vow. Will Fae choose the enhancement or trust her own exceptional mind to defeat a secretive and powerful force threatening all New Americans?

Meet Brian Terenna

Brian Terenna is a dystopian, fantasy, science fiction, and cyberpunk author. He grew up in a land of possibilities. He saw a path to all of them, but could only pick one. Now, he creates worlds, where fantasy is reality and reality is anything you make it. He is an avid chess player, an expert vegetable gardener, and a meditation master.

Tract

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The truth has never been this dangerous…or this exciting

Fifteen years ago, John Kimberley walked out of his partner’s office and never looked back. He didn’t want to. It was easier to believe that he was heading for a stellar career and a future unburdened by huge student loans. The career proved to be rich and rewarding. His financial health—likewise. There was that other nagging consideration that surfaced now and then; a nasty little voice that kept whispering that he sacrificed the love-of-his-life for prestige and money. But he knew how to ignore it.

Then a sinkhole opened up in Arizona, swallowing a refinery, one of his employer’s subsidiaries. A significant loss. Certainly, worthy of further scrutiny. For a change, he needs to do field work in a research library where he discovers a list of natural disasters that spans decades. The one thing these natural phenomena have in common, is that they had all targeted his employer’s holdings. A joint venture here, a subsidiary there. His corporate employer sure seems to be the type of business that is every insurer’s nightmare.

Until John finds a pattern and a thread that begs to be pulled. A man who had no business being in Arizona, was caught on the security cameras, and appeared to be casing the refinery. The next step would be to find out what the man had to say for himself. Except he’s off on a field assignment—and heading for Alaska and so is a research team of scientists, aiming to hold field trials of a new product. The project leader is someone who has not been part of John’s life for the last fifteen years. He swore to never speak her name again. But a few days later, when a new tragedy claims many lives, including the man John had hoped to find, he knows that old wounds will have to remain hidden even as new ones open up. And suddenly, he is faced with so many choices, pulled in so many directions that running away is not an option. At least not this time. He knows that there is something terribly wrong with the island…he just doesn’t know how terribly wrong it is to try and find out.

Meet Edita A. Petrick