The Lady In The Glass

by K.J. Heritage

12 tales of death dying from international bestselling UK author, K.J.Heritage


"At first, when the waters showed me the Lady, I thought she was a sister of The Jesus, for she smiled at me. But when I gave her another looksee, I knew she was also Devil, for she comes from the Blackash and was broken.


Her flesh is white, stuck inside twisted glass that bends and curls—one arm reachin’ out to me, the other at her side, her fingers clenched in an angry fist.


And if I look into her black eyes? I see fings. Twistin’, turnin’ fings. She tells of dark, doomy worlds, of peoples and places, and of shadows where horrors lurk. Stories that play out in front of me as if I was there.


But hark! Her lips begins to dance! Serpents that whisper and hiss. Words that spin and curl, twistin’ and swirlin’ and I can do nothin’ but watch, watch, watch…"

ebook

Published October 27, 2018

About the author

"K.J.Heritage's uncanny sense of pacing and story puts him at the forefront of today's speculative fiction writers." Samuel Peralta, Amazon bestselling author and creator of The Future Chronicles

TO ENJOY a K.J.Heritage starter book of his short stories and more, join his Mostly Reader's Club at: http://kjheritage.com/join/

I'D LIKE to thank you for visiting my page. I’ve been amazed by the reaction to my novels and stories, and by the many emails, tweets and posts (not all abuse!) I've received since my first release. In many ways, it’s a dream come true, to write, publish and get such wonderful feedback.

A BIT more about me...

I'M AN international bestselling author mostly writing mystery sci-fi, crime and fantasy.

I WRITE books that I love to read. From science fiction action and adventure mysteries to contemporary thrillers and paranormal fantasy.

MY FIRST sci-fi short story, ‘ESCAPING THE CRADLE’ was runner-up in the 2005 Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction Competition.

MY STORIES have appeared in several anthologies with such self-publishing sci-fi luminaries as Hugh Howey, Samuel Peralta and Michael Bunker.

I HAVE worked all the requisite ‘writer jobs' such as driver's mate, factory gateman, barman, labourer, telesales operative, sales assistant, warehouseman, IT contractor, Student Union President, university IT helpdesk guy, British Rail signal software designer, premiership football website designer, gigging musician, graphic designer, stand-up comedian, sound engineer, improv artist, magazine editor and web journo... Although I don't like to talk about it. Mostly.

I WAS born in the UK in one of the more interesting previous centuries. Originally from Derbyshire, I now live in the seaside town of Brighton. I am a tea drinker, avid Twitterer, and autistic (ASD) human being.

FOR ALL media enquiries, event/booking information, signed copies, etc. please email: contact@kjheritage.com

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve great stories interwoven with science fiction and fantasy. It was also good to see some old favorites with Blue and Scowl. I enjoyed the story of Tamina which hopefully may lead to a longer novel.

There are some stunning stories.

A great read and highly recommended.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of short story collections. I approached The Lady in the Glass thinking, "I'll just skim, maybe I'll find one I like since I like Kev Heritage's writing." WRONG! I read the Prologue and had to read each story and every word of each and every story.
Despite the brevity, plots were complex and characters were compellingly developed. You'll see some old friends sprinkled here and there, if you've been reading Kev's books all along.
There are 12 stories which don't candy coat the story at all. They are boldly emotional and sometimes bittersweet. My preferences are suspense, supernatural, fantasy, and sci fi. There's at least one of each genre and all of them engaging to the point of escaping our sometimes altogether too real world.
This one is a winner!

[Jonathan Tindale · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this latest collection of short stories, KJ Heritage has delivered a terrific set of macabre and thoughtful tales. I was particularly taken by the poor soul endlessly traipsing across a hellscape planet by her malfunctioning suit.

And I suspect I may not be the only one to sympathise with some of the protaganists, I am thinking of you, Petrol Red Head. Thoroughly recommended.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of 12 somewhat connected short stories. Many had memorable twists and overall the book was a great read.

[Evonne A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a read!! First time reading one of Heritage's books and definitely won't be the last. It's been a while since reading a collection of Mystery/Fantasy stories and the "The Lady in the Glass" gave me all the reasons to spend a little bit more time under the Sci-Fi section at the bookstore. "The Lady in the Glass" takes you through 12 tales of painfully relatable and human feelings concerning the justification of revenge, resentment, co-dependency, and self-preservation through death. Despite their neuroses, Heritage does an impressive job at developing the characters' conflicting perspectives without positioning anyone or thing as the enemy. Had to revisit some parts over due to my unfamiliarity of some context, but it's definitely worth the second round of eyes, because if you miss a vowel, you'll miss the lesson! KJ, this one is a winner!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first, it should not have taken me as long as it did to get through this book as it's a collection of 12 short stories but life and work kept interrupting, stopping me from getting fully engrossed in this book so in the future I hope to reread the whole thing again to see if I have missed anything pertinent.

This is not my first time reading anything by Kev Heritage but it feels new. I usually associate his works with Science Fiction and while this definitely has that, it has a slight horror element to it as the stories themselves mention death.

When not distracted I would often found myself getting lost in the descriptive words used to paint a characters thought process or action. Quite a few times I wished that certain stories (i.e. Quick-Kill Jane & How To Make It Up To Julia were flushed out more so I could see how characters faired and got to where they did.

Not all of the stories were my favorites but I still got something out of them which is good a thing and one of the reasons I like this author and will continue to read more of his work in the future.

[Anthony Pires · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not usually a fan of short stories, I find that the story is over once you get interested in a character. This book taught me that's not always true and has forced me to change my opinion. Seeing as my favorite character Quick-Kill Jane, has made it off the short story to a series "Quick-Kill and the Galactic Secret Service"; and I recognized The Scowl and his comrades from the Iron scythes sagas and I hope that's not the last I get to read of them. So if you are like me and usually avoid short story anthologies, don't as you will be missing a great read, of science fiction and fantasy stories that might also get their own series one day.

[Buttercupp77 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories, which only fully realised its coherence at the end of the collection.

Each of the stories is very well-written, and characters, although we encounter them fairly briefly, are memorable and realistic.

The author has done an exceptional job of world- and character-building in the short story format.

I don't think I could pick a favourite - they were all so well crafted.

I am very much looking forward to reading more from this author!

I received a copy of this book through Voracious Readers Only.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read a book by Kev Heritage before, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed when I asked to review his new book. Being a fan of all spooky, dark and macabre stories this book was a fantastic read. The desolate walking corpse I found intriguing, Quick Kill Jane, The Petrol Redhead this book has it all. Sci-fi, fantasy, death, murder The Lady In The Glass is a stunningly good read. Well done KH I look forward to the next one!

[Jim Bodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death and dying might not be a subject one would think would produce good writing, but that is exactly what the author of these 12 short stories has done. These 12 compelling tales stand alone and are at the same time tied into the book as a whole. Many of the stories have an unexpected twist that I must admit, I did not always see coming. To that I say, well played, well played and very well written!

[CDWB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

I've read so many of Mr. Heritage's books and enjoyed every one of them. I'm now on to a different genre of his writings, fantasy. I loved the way the book started out and then it brought all twelve stories together at the end. Fantastic writing and I can highly recommend this book. Now onto Vitac.

[Michelle Wyche · Rating 2 out of 5]

I unfortunately was unable to get into this book. I had tried but was unable to finish. I think what did it for me was the beginning of the first story really threw me for a loop. Good writing and descriptive though!!!

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice. Oldfashioned, but in a good way.

[Maria Sorgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of stories! I received a free copy from the author through Voracious Readers Only. Loved the characters and detailed stories!