The Empathy Effect by Bob Lock - Screaming Dreams - Publishing all things fantasy, sci-fi and horror

The Empathy Effect by Bob Lock

Cooper Jones is an alcoholic with a super-power, he is an empath, almost able to read minds … almost! He's also a Swansea traffic warden and doesn't have to read minds to know what people think of him. However, he had no idea how hated he was until he was bound to Mumbles Pier and left to drown.

Extract

You’d think I’d have seen it coming. I of all people, a guy blessed with the ability to imagine himself as another person, or you could even say feel that other person’s emotions, and so it therefore stands to reason that I should foresee the probable actions of that person and guard against them.

Well, you would think that, wouldn’t you? I’d think so too and usually I do foresee those actions. Nevertheless, when you find me like this, trussed up like a turkey at Christmas – and bear in mind it’s not even December yet, so the possibility that I’m impersonating a turkey awaiting the oven should be discounted – then you just have to wonder how I got here …

Oh, now I guess you’re thinking, perhaps he’s a masochist. He’s the type who gets off on being wrapped to one of the support legs of Mumbles Pier with industrial strength cling-film whilst the incoming tide laps gently around his crotch and his friend’s little dog – which he was taking care of – has been thrown into the water with a brick attached to its lead. Or, you might think he’s the type who enjoys being told that his girlfriend has been made to swallow condoms filled with cocaine until her stomach is full to bursting. Wrong again.

About the Author

Bob Lock is a Gower-born Welshman who spends his retirement writing short stories and the occasional novel. His work includes a dark fantasy novel, Flames of Herakleitos (also published by Screaming Dreams), a SF novella, A Cloud Of Madness and works in anthologies such as Cold Cuts 1&2, Cone Zero, Cern Zoo and Null Immortalis.

Author's Homepage : www.scifi-tales.com