The Price of Meat
Johanna Oakley will do anything to save her beloved Arabella from the cruelty of Mr. Fogg’s madhouse—but ‘anything’ turns out to be more than she bargained for when she finds herself working for a man suspected of worse than murder.
As Johanna is plunged from the horror of Sawney Reynard’s barber shop into the foul, lawless labyrinth at the heart of London, will she–or anyone–get out alive?
This is a standalone 15,000-word story. Available in print as part of the anthology A Pocketful of Lies.
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Cover art by Sandra Schwab
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Torture and cannibalism. Has romantic elements but I classify this one as horror.
“When I reach for a book by K.J. Charles, I expect a light romance adventure with some silly buggery along the way.
This is not one of those books.”
“Appallingly short tale involving two lesbians and two gay men facing criminal corruption on a grand scale. ... Well-told with terse descriptions, a deus ex machina or two, and the belated discovery that this is a Christmas novella made me laugh out loud.”
“In a very short space, KJ managed to sketch up an incredibly interesting world, gave us an amazing protagonist in Jo and some absolutely wonderful characters I desperately need to see more of. ”
“Awful in the best way possible.”