Name: The Stranger Times by C K McDonnell
Item: The Stranger Times
Author: Trenzle Review

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It’s truly strangely amazing. It is a light read, but it moves quickly. McDonnell’s intricately crafted cast of colourfully diverse (and consistently surprise layered) characters trade witty one-liners like a group of knife throwers on Red Bull. One of the many sassy women in this group is Hannah Willis, and editor Banecroft, the lava-like centre of this mismatched newspaper staff’s daily woes, brought back happy reading memories of Mick Herron’s famously cynical character Jackson Lamb.

However, beneath the bluster and wonderfully world-weary dark comedy farce, there is also a pleasing amount of social satire, journalistic guts, renegade bravery, and team loyalty at its core. Yes, there is rudeness and outrageously awful behaviour. Additionally, McDonnell intersperses bite-sized articles from The Stranger Times’ newspaper between each chapter of this book to maintain the lightheartedness and sense of distorted viewpoints. Their reporting is top-notch in terms of sarcasm and sardonic humour.

It comes as no surprise that the series was optioned for TV even before its publication given how much I enjoyed this book and how eager I am to start Book 2, This Charming Man. I can only hope that they do justice to McDonnell’s exquisitely subtle blend of sophisticated black humour and adult urban fantasy. Note that Book 1 of the Stranger Times series is essential reading because it contains essential character and world-building setup.

About The Book

Thank God The Stranger Times is here to report on the evil forces at work in our world, especially in Manchester. It is the go-to publication for the unexplained and unexplainable since it is a weekly newspaper devoted to the weird and the lovely (but largely the bizarre).

That is, at least, their sales pitch. Reality is a little less promising. Their editor is a booze-addled, foul-mouthed, husk of a man who has no regard for the publication he oversees. A motley crew of outcasts make up his staff. The position of assistant editor is one that frequently changes, and it recently revealed Hannah Willis, who has her own issues.

The Stranger Times is obliged to conduct a thorough investigation as tragedy hits during her first week of work. What they learn leads to a startling realisation: some of the tales they had previously written off as fiction are actually terrifyingly true. They quickly encounter darker powers than they could have ever anticipated.

The Stranger Times is the debut book by C.K. McDonnell, Caimh McDonnell’s pen name. It blends his characteristic dark humour and his passion for the extraordinary to create a joyful celebration of how reality sometimes really may be stranger than fiction.

The Review