The Collector

by Kelly Lynn Colby

When the cocoon becomes too tight, the next step is EMERGENCE.

Fauna Young owns a small computer repair shop. She lives in a townhouse downtown. She loves to dance with her two best friends in city clubs. From the outside, Fauna’s life looks like any other young professional’s in bustling Houston.

On the inside, Fauna hides a secret. She can read people’s emotions as well as intense memories impressed on everyday objects. She calls it her curse, and she’s never found anyone else like her.

Until Fauna uncovers a statue pieced together with multiple impressions. Hopeful that she’s finally found someone like her, Fauna tracks down the artist only to find his mutilated corpse.

With a serial killer on the loose targeting people like her, Fauna might have ended her solidarity only to cut her life short. Now she must work with a skeptical homicide detective to catch the mad man before she becomes the next victim.

Genres: Paranormal, Mystery

205 pages, Paperback

Published January 29, 2021

About the author

Kelly Lynn Colby is a professional volunteer, fledgling writer, and hardcore geek. Her epic fantasy Tarbin’s True Heir is up for pre-order right now with a release date of September 30, 2017. Book two, Tarbin's False Prophet, has words added to its draft daily. Mostly daily. It will be ready for readers next September. Promise.

Kelly’s second novel is off searching for an agent. Good luck, The Innkeeper’s Daughter: An Ella and Wink Story, a middle grade fantasy about a girl and her dragon. The Case of the Fallen Dragon, a YA urban fantasy, has been drafted and taunts its author as it awaits its revision.

Kelly has joined Inklings Publishing as an acquisitions editor and developmental editor. The main thing she’s learned so far is the location of the coffee. Priorities. She's also had the privilege to work with Meg Hafdahl, an incredible up and comer of horror fiction.

For over a decade, she has volunteered with the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of her community. The high school band, where her son plays french horn, and SCC Farm, where her daughter learns equestrian skills, see her face more than her husband.

When she is not attending to her myriad duties, Kelly enjoys reading and traveling, especially to Sci-Fi conventions such as Dragon Con. She’s also addicted to Podcasts, the Nerdist being top of the list, along with Critical Roll and Writing Excuses.

A HUGE proponent of community in everything she does, Kelly is a member of the Houston Writers Guild. She maintains a relationship with the past attendees of the Dragon Con Writers Workshop hosted by Jody Lynn Nye. Daily interaction with The Cerulean Project, writing genre fiction that matters, keeps her motivated while in front of her keyboard typing away. She's recently joined SCBWI and loves their engaging and interactive monthly meetings.

Kelly is attending the Superstars Writing Seminar February 2018 as the fulfillment of a dream she’s maintained since she first decided she could write for a living.

Reviews

[Molly]

Tremendous

I loved this! It has a perfect blend of suspense & crime scene description with just a drop of romance!

[Larry]

This book is so much more than a police procedural with a psychic consultant. Some parts of the story are disturbing, so it’s not for young people to read. Fauna Young, an Empath who thinks she’s the only one with this “curse,” finds out there may be someone else out there like her. Following her gut leads to a dead body and a murderer. When another person with abilities is murdered, Fauna wonders if she’s on his hit list. And that’s how she meets Detective Flores. Fauna hasn’t even told her two best friends why she always wears gloves, but they suspect it’s more than being a germaphobe. It took me just over one day to read, so I didn’t get anything else done, so be warned.

[Jen Bair]

This was a really great read with an interesting set of characters and a world that really allowed them to come to life. Fauna is able to read people's emotions. She can also access intense memories from objects that she touches. She has never met anyone with similar abilities, but her world changes when she senses something strange about a piece of artwork and gets sucked into a serial killer's world of twisted motivations. This book is a must-read and, as the first in a series, I look forward to the next installment.

[KayCeeReads]

I don't know how to rate this one. Most of the book was quite good. Fauna's internal stress about telling her friends was a bit much. However the ending really disappointed me. I felt her thoughts were just a bit too clear while being tortured. There didn't appear to be much fear. And afterwards she was totally fine, mentally. I can only assume someone would have some serious therapy bills after what she had been through.
So I guess I would rate this a 2-2.5, but I'm going to mark it as 3 because most of it was pretty good.

[JJ Brannan]

A Total Rush

Smart, sassy, and a little alcoholic. This psychological thriller keeps you turning the pages as you binge read Fauna’s discovery of her power in the midst of wrangling Houston criminals. It’s a fast read, full of snark and the dynamic cultural mix of the inner loop. Great work, highly recommend.

[Jenny Elliott]

Imagine having the gift/curse of psychometry. Touching something and feeling another person's emotions and possible thoughts. Yeah, I don't wanna.

This was a great, thoughtful book. Not only did she write a great compelling story. She put thought in so many details that make it something you can almost feel. Kelly is a great author.

[Carol Riggs]

This was a fascinating read, although (content warning) there were quite a few grisly and dark scenes—which does make sense since a serial killer is involved in the plotline. I liked the premise of Fauna being able to touch items and get a sense of the owner’s emotional experiences. The covers of the books for this series are eye-catching as well as spot-on for the mood and genre.

[Tara S]

Not for the squeamish

The concept was great. The in-depth focus on a variety of emotions through an empath’s experience was clever. The characters themselves left a little to be desired for me, but overall, I really liked this one.

[Kami]

Genuinely don't know how to rate it.
It wasn't the best, not the worst. I couldn't relate to the character, but there are people out there who probably could enjoy this book more so 🤷 judge it yourself? out of ten. ok bye.

[Virginia Night]

Facinating

I really enjoyed this storyline almost urban fantasy mixed with a true crime. Real and raw yet tempered into excellent storytelling. I’m looking forward to reading more!