
The Stranger Times - The Stranger Times (Hardback)
C.K.McDonnell (author)Published: 14/01/2021

An irresistible mix of crime, dark comedy and conspiracy theory, McDonnell’s fleet-footed debut revolves around a sensationalist newspaper and what happens when the stories its reporters thought were hoaxes turn out to be real.
'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' proclaimed ADAM KAY, author of the No.1 bestselling This is Going to Hurt
'A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise' said the GUARDIAN
JASON MANFORD thinks it's 'Hilarious. You'll never look at Manchester the same way again.'
The Chronicles of St Mary's series author JODI TAYLOR declared 'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.'
And THE TIMES called it 'ripping entertainment from start to finish.'
There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . .
A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable.
At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own.
When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined.
The Stranger Times is the first novel from C.K. McDonnell, the pen name of Caimh McDonnell. It combines his distinctive dark wit with his love of the weird and wonderful to deliver a joyous celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction.
Readers love The Stranger Times:
***** 'A delight from start to finish - laugh out loud funny yet with plenty of thrills.'
***** 'Full of wit and humour, and knows how to keep the reader hooked.'
***** 'You'll soon fall in love . . . fans of Pratchett, Gaiman, Aaronovich will be blown away.'
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 9781787633353
Number of pages: 432
Weight: 667 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 38 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise.
-- Eric Brown * GUARDIAN *I tore through The Stranger Times. Like an entertaining collision between the worlds of Mick Herron and Charlie Stross, it's a novel that proves ancient eldritch horror is no match for old-school journalism. -- CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE, bestselling author of Fallen Angel
There are weird happenings in Manchester; good job the drunk and dysfunctional journalists of The Stranger Times, a newspaper dedicated to paranormal and the unexplained, are on hand . . . terrific, easygoing fun. -- Robert Millen * THE TIMES *
I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable. -- JODI TAYLOR, bestselling author of The Chronicles of St Mary's series
A cracker . . . brace yourself for murder, monsters, mesmerism - and merriment. Wonderfully wacky. * SAGA *
Darkly witty. * i-NEWSPAPER *
Darkly comedic . . . alternating between sinister and silly, McDonnell's writing is intelligently witty. * THE HERALD *
Fresh and genuinely funny. * SFX magazine *
The one-liners zing, the dialogue is a tennis match of witty banter. * FINANCIAL TIMES *
McDonnell loves creating characters and loves the characters he creates, and soon we are rooting for this quirky and eccentric multicultural bunch . . . a real generosity of spirit permeates the book. It is strangely feelgood but not in a schmaltzy way . . . a very funny book.
* IRISH TIMES *You may also be interested in...
“Utterly Brilliant”
Well I am going to be buying this as a gift for everyone I know throughout 2021.
What we have here is a brilliant, sparkly well-written irreverent comedy about the staff of a small newspaper focused on the publishing...
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“What stalks the night?”
" 'Are you aware there's a man trying to jump off your building?'
Grace didn't even look up. 'Well, it is Monday.' "
First of all, I think it's fair to say this: this book...
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“Hilarity in magical Manchester”
I have previously thoroughly enjoyed Caimh McDonnell's hilarious Bunny McGarry books about an Irish cop and his exploits in Dublin and then in the USA, so I was very keen to read this new urban fantasy series set... More
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