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The Stranger Times
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
16 posts | 10 read | 9 to read
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.
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review
Robotswithpersonality
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Pickpick

What a marvelous read. Straddles hilarious and macabre, the much craved funny fantasy! The back cover comparison is apt, I think if you like Terry Pratchett, you should try this. Cynical journalism, dry wit, supernatural mysteries and just a smattering of pathos and world building. 🤌🏻
I am overjoyed that this is a series I get to read more in, though I'll have to wait for interlibrary loans for each.
⚠️ Borderline offensive grumpy bastard.

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Robotswithpersonality
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Zing!

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Robotswithpersonality
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Yep, shaping up to be a ridiculous favourite. 😄

julesG I really liked this. 1y
3 likes1 comment
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Robotswithpersonality
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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This book is exactly the level of silly I needed today.

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Robotswithpersonality
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Honestly, when I have horror flashbacks to my last period of job searching, the honesty of this advert is refreshing in comparison.

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rwmg
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Pickpick

The only job Hannah Willis can find is with a small newspaper which specialises in reporting on the weird and wonderful things some people believe have happened. In the background some very weird stuff is going on in Manchester.

Very funny story about the paper's staff and the stories they report with a good urban fantasy story about a magician tracking down descendents of magical races mixed in with the humour.

19 likes1 stack add
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rwmg
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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shanaqui
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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I ended up getting myself a storage cart thing to store some of the books that won't fit on my fixed shelves. It's so perfect for my British Library Crime Classics collection that I'll probably reorganise other stuff and gradually move them all into it!

Started reading the tagged book yesterday, though, on a whim. Not sure where it is going exactly, even now I've read 30%, but I'm curious enough to keep going.

MrsK Love all those BLCC titles!!🥰 2y
rabbitprincess The Edinburgh Mystery?! That is going on my to-read list right now 😄 2y
shanaqui @rabbitprincess I picked it up during my weekend away in Edinburgh. 😁 2y
shanaqui @MrsK They always look so nice collected together. 😁 2y
17 likes1 stack add4 comments
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humouress
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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This book makes me giggle. (To put the quote in context, ‘The Stranger Times‘ is a newspaper which reports weird and wacky stories.)

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Nelnjali
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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I started reading The Stranger Times, and I'm loving the snarky, subtly intelligent humor in it.

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charl08
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Hannah found Reggie eating a breakfast roll by the canal while a trio of ducks gave him the evil eye. When Hannah appeared beside him, he pointed at a sign that showed a cartoon quacker thanking you for not feeding it bread. It went on to point out that bread made its tummy hurt...
'All of that may well be true,' said Reggie, 'but I can't help thinking that the massive flaw in this system is that nobody has explained it to the ruddy ducks.

CarolynM 🤣 2y
Reggie Is that a Squid game going on in the background? Lol jk. 2y
batsy 😆🦆🦆🦆 2y
55 likes1 stack add4 comments
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charl08
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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There had been more employees when Grace had started, about a decade ago, but the numbers had been slowly going down. Banecroft's arrival six months previously had prompted a scramble for the lifeboats. Life under Barry, the previous editor of The Stranger Times, had been like snuggling up beside a fire with a warm cup of cocoa. With Banecroft it was like being in the fire.

Suet624 I‘ve had a few work experiences and bosses like that. 2y
44 likes1 comment
review
julesG
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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Pickpick

Exactly what I needed.

Loved the cast of weird characters. Loved the humour.

Can't wait for book 2.

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julesG
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I want to quote every other scene. It's definitely a funny Urban Fantasy set in Manchester.

#20in4 #readathon @Andrew65

RaeLovesToRead Ooh, might check this out. I used to live in Manchester and haven't read a book set there since Val McDermid. 2y
Andrew65 Sounds good 👏👏👏 2y
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Tonton
The Stranger Times | C.K.McDonnell
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The Church of Old Souls in Manchester is very much like Mick Herron‘s Slough House; instead of housing a crew of spooks, the church houses the motley crew of editors and journalists of the Stranger Times, a weekly newspaper specializing in reports on strange happenings. If the news feed has you down, this is the perfect book to lighten the mood. Very funny Herron/ Pratchett mashup with a touch of Gaiman😎❣️