Fantastically funny fantasy!

The Stranger Times is a small scale version of Fortean Times, ran in theory by irascible Vincent Banecroft, but really held together by his office manager Grace. Then there's Ox and Rupert who between bickering are the papers features writer, Stella who's role seems undefined but stroppy. They need a new editor, enter Hannah who has no experience but is desperate and turned up. But strange things are brewing in the papers hometown of Manchester and soon the Stranger Times Team find themselves part of one of the odd stories they normally report on.

A cracking story with a fantastic cast of characters. Funny throughout, really looking forward to the next part of this new series.

This is a fun and weird story! It's a very humorous tale of an eccentric team that report the paranormal goings on in the world that they discover might be more reality than fiction.

The Stranger Times is a great read for lovers of fantasy, mystery and thrillers. It's a little dark, a little weird, a little funny. And completely entertaining.

My only issue with this book was that the dialogue was a little stilted at times and that sometimes brought me out of the story. But once I reach about the middle of this book I was completely engrossed.

Hannah Willis is having a bad day. Several of them in fact. In a row. Walking away from her London home and recently ex husband, she finds herself penniless in Manchester where necessity forces her to apply for a job with The Stranger Times. On the surface, it appears to be sensationalist reporting of events with no basis in truth like the Fortean Times, but Manchester has a dark underbelly and the Stranger Times keeps its denizens informed of what’s happening with the local supernatural community. This was exactly up my street. Funny, dark and very satisfying.

An interesting read that I'm glad to have discovered. I'll definitely be seeking out more by this author.

The Stranger Times gets a (hopefully) new series off to a spectacular start. At first glance a book about the staff of a Manchester newspaper reporting unexplained phenomena didn’t tick all my boxes, however it is one of the highlights of my reading year so far. It’s definitely a tough book to describe, however if you are a fan of the Rivers of London series then this will give you a good steer on what to expect – albeit my opinion this book is way funnier.

The Stranger Times is laugh out loud funny in places, it’s knife sharp clever and you’ll fall in love with the dysfunctional characters. But it’s not all laughs, there is some genuine drama in the book, which is perfectly balanced with the rest of this irreverent comedy fest.

I predict big things for this book. Surely TV awaits

Really enjoyed this madcap story of misfits. Great for anyone who's ever leafed through the Fortean Times and wondered where it all comes from, (or delved into the weirder corners of the net, of course...).

Surprisingly sharp and comic .. characters are attractive as strange figure attacks them..a drunken editor and his office team of eccentrics who can fathom even at some risk to themselves metaphysical events .. despite myself I was drawn in .. great dialogue.. our gateway into this world is a divorced woman who has left it all behind and in desperation finds them .. at heart it's warm and almost melodrama... makes for unexpectedly enjoyable reading...

“Stranger Times” is a cross between “Slow Horses” and the Rivers of London series, a funny and enjoyable romp that has all the elements of a good book: a cast of unusual and likeable characters, a great setting, and a fast-paced plot. Set in Manchester, the story follows Hannah, who is desperate to get a job after leaving her rich but unfaithful husband and ends up working for a newspaper called Stranger Times, which deals with everything that is unexplained, mysterious and frankly bonkers. And although none of the people who work there really believes in the things they write about, Hannah and her new co-workers - a group of loveable misfits under their irascible editor, Vincent Banecroft – are about to discover that there might be some truth in the stories they cover. CK Donnell is an Irish comedian and author, and I sincerely hope that this will be the beginning of a new series. There is stuff for everyone here: a bit of police procedural, a bit of investigative journalism, gruesome and dark parts that will satisfy lovers of dark and grim thrillers and paranormal bits that are funny, scary and surprising. It is also a funny book, especially if you are fond of stroppy teenagers, foulmouthed smelly journalists and weird printer presses that seemingly work without power. Definitely worth reading.

Yep, I loved it. The Stranger Times is pretty damn awesome.

I have always had mixed feelings with urban fantasy and I think it lies with the fact that I link fantasy with medieval settings and the such like however recently I have really started to enjoy the genre and The Stranger Times has just tipped me over into the category of loving urban fantasy. I have come to love the idea of the fantasy world hiding behind the veil and spilling over into our world. It makes me feel like a kid again. Seeing the unexplainable things in the corners of your eyes. A reason for the unreasonable. The lost worlds that are not lost after all and just hiding in plain sight.

The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell approaches the genre a little differently than most. Our main character is a journalist working for… you guessed it, The Stranger Times, a weekly newspaper aimed at bringing the weird and wonderful to light. I love this approach and it still allows the much loved trope of investigating the supernatural that is a staple of the genre and like many this read is humour filled. I just love the back and forth between the cast of characters on offer. The line-up is also nice and diverse which is always a plus.

It’s no lie that I enjoy a good bit of humour in my reads and McDonnell delivers extremely well on this. Whether it be snappy one liners between the characters or internal character dialogue it all served the book well. It had me laughing out loud and that is exactly what the world needs right now. To take a step back, pick up a book and just escape for a few hours. You can do that with The Stranger Times. My worries sunk beneath the surface while I journeyed through the back streets and alleys of Manchester.

Going back to our line-up of characters and its diversity I just want to mention we have everything and everyone one. Not only are they from different cultural backgrounds and genders, the main character being female, but they also have very differing personalities. McDonnell does a fantastic job of patching together this mix match of characters and it somehow works really well where it really shouldn’t.

Oh and check out that cover. At first glance it kinda looks plain but take a second look and you’ll soon see some hidden secrets. I love it when a cover serves more purpose than just a title page.

I am just going to recommend The Stranger Times to every fantasy lover, every mystery lover and every thriller lover. This read delivers on multiple levels and I really am looking forward to reading more from The Stranger Times.

I wanted to love this book but it just wasn’t for me. I found the story too slow moving and the dialogue stilted. Unusually I just didn’t manage to finish it. I can see by the reviews that others have loved it so it is obviously just not to my personal taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for their ARC

Caimh's The Stranger Times writing was on of my favourite reads of 2020. It wears fast paced and very humorous to the point that I laughed out loud numerous times. The writing style was extremely descriptive but not to the fact were it was irritating.

Worth the read

I started this book and thought...what is this? It was different in style to anything I'd read before, but I did persevere and finish it...I'd not want to leave unfavourable reviews because it is a genre I'd not usually choose, so I've awarded a 3 star in all fairness...many thanks to Netgalley.co.uk and the publishers for a chance to read this ARC and leave an honest comment.

It opens really well and the supernatural plot was just what I needed. At first I was less keen on the pressroom scene and it took me a while to get in to them, but slowly I grew to love the characters and their banter and relationships. I like that the characters are easily distinguishable plus there was more banter then a high school

Of late, I have been having some luck with wacky stories. This format includes a contemporary setup, with fantastical creatures leaking into the story when you least expect it. This was no exception. The conversations' randomness was dialled down a little compared to others of this ilk, and people tried to keep their cool even when everything around them seemed to be going up into flames.
It begins innocuously enough, that is, after the first chapter that involves someone trying to perform a dangerous act. One of our main characters is a straightforward woman, having to earn by herself for the first time in years. She chances upon a very odd advertisement that turns even odder every minute she is at the location. Unfortunately for her and fortunately for us, she takes the job by default. We are aware of the 'stranger' ongoings in the city, something that our newspaper team will only find out in bits and pieces. This is sometimes fun, but at other times I wished I also found out only when the others did!
It was a fun book with magical creatures and magical histories, and I really liked the ending. If there is another book, I look forward to a few laughs. I may not have laughed aloud during the book but felt its humourous effects during the bantering that multiple characters take up at various stages. I recommend this to anyone who found the above details interesting and on the lookout for a quick read.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Hannah needs a job but hasn't held one down in years and has no experience. Having lost her marriage and her home (which she burned down) she has very little left, so is desperate for employment. Circumstances mean that she ends up working at 'The Stranger Times' for an obnoxious drunk alongside a bunch of random misfits.

Just, as it seems the divide between the world as we see it bumps up against the other world that exists alongside it. Manchester is the busiest place for the dark deeds that The Stranger Times reports on and the staff are just starting to realise that the stories they thought were a load of imaginations gone wild, are in fact true.

Some of the characters might be considered a bit unrealistic, but I did find that the editor reminded me of someone I have worked with in the past (just a little), so it did give the story more chance of being believable character-wise.

I haven't read any works by this author before and I would read his books again, but only the fantasy ones, I'm not interested in comedy. There were places where the author lost me a little, so I carried on reading and filled in the gaps as best I could.

Set in Manchester between the world as we know it and a the secret world of fae and supernaturals, this book follows the adventures of the staff of the Stranger Times newspaper, a paper that publishes the weird and wonderful stories that no self respecting paper would.
The authors writing style is refreshing and genuinely funny – blending a supernatural mystery with mundane reality in such a way that it’s impossible not to giggle. At the same time, the story has substance to it and the plot is rock solid, laying a strong foundation for what I’m hoping is set to become a series.
The characters are the crowning glory of this story – a mix of diverse personalities, the staff of Stranger Times are strongly written and have distinctive personalities. The found-family dynamic is heartwarming – they spend most of their time screaming at each other but when there are outside threats, they’re loyal to the end.
Another thing that struck me is that though the villain is creepy and villainous, the neutral characters were even more sinister and interesting in their motivations.

I’d love to read more of this series to see how the characters grow and their family develops, so here’s hoping the author has more lined up for us!

The Stranger Times is a fun, off kilter romp around shining light on supernatural hi jinx occurring in the Manchester metropolitan area. And who better to unveil the truth of magical anomalies and broadcast it to the wider world than The Stranger Times newspaper? Having just read the brilliant Slough House by Mick Herron I see a number of parallels, though not even remotely similar in content or subject matter. An unruly team of misfits (Slough House's slow horses) is captained by a rude, overbearing, bitingly sarcastic, potentially washed up man (Slough House's Jackson Lamb) as they strive against all odds, and general reason, to unearth the truth and deal with it. An age-old, proven formula that works so well here in a bonkers kind of way. Hilarious stuff, to be sure, but with a dark underbelly that is both frightful and disturbing.

The Stranger Times does contain everything you could possibly want in an underdog story - fighting against convention the disparate parts of the team work together pooling their talents to get to the bottom of recent occurrences. The characters are each in their own way unique and likeable. Hannah, the most conventional character of the lot, is finding her way in the world after a messy marital break-up is exposed to a world she never dreamed of. It is a funny, cheeky story that isn't constrained by reality and that is best part of it. If you want a delightfully distracting story to take your mind off the current troubles, it is here my friend.

I really enjoyed this. It sets up some intriguing characters that I can really see growing over time. I look forward to more from the author.

Well, what a fun book this was!
Hannah is looking for a job after a messy divorce found her moving across the country to start afresh. She ends up with a job at The Stranger Times which is a newspaper that reports all the weird and wonderful goings on in the world such as alien abductions, the sightings of elusive mythical monsters etc. This is far out of her comfort zone and then add to that her colleagues who were just a crazy bunch and almost caricatures with certain aspects of their personalities exaggerated, and hilarity ensues. The newspaper staff find themselves in the middle of a real investigation when 2 local men are killed in bizarre unexplainable way and they end up in a battle of good versus magical evil!
Parts of the book are crude, parts are ridiculous, and parts are just WTF! But it was really enjoyable. I loved the characters, the story line was good, and it had a great pace once it got going after a bit of a slow start. There are a few homophobic and racist comments thrown in by a purposefully antagonistic character but I think they are used just right to portray the character and are not accepted by other characters (if that makes sense?). There's also quite a bit of profanity. This is meant to be a slapstick urban fantasy and should be taken at face value for entertainment purposes. I'd definitely recommend this book for people with a dark, sarcastic sense of humour who aren't easily offended.

Hannah is feeling rather desperate for work when she lands a job as the assistant editor with the Stranger Times newspaper. As a result, she hasn’t actually researched the publication much – and is more than a little shocked to discover she’s now proofreading articles on vampires and bigfoot. Oops! Still, a job is a job. Which is all fine and good until tragedy strikes in her first week. But the investigation into a death a little too close to home is met with more resistance than usual, and both darker forces and deadlier foes than any of the team might have wholly believed real…

I’ve been swithering (good Scottish word there ;)) about this book since I read it. It was a good concept and certainly entertaining, and I did enjoy a lot of it. However, I was almost surprised to find that it wasn’t a debut effort. The writing style just felt a little like it needed… something… to lift it, and to make this a great book rather than an okay one.

I think my main issue was the way the plot just grows and grows, and by the end it felt like an extra several layers had been added over and above what felt organic. Some is teased at the beginning, but then there’s this other element. And oh, here’s another, and, and, and – and a couple were a little too deus ex machina. Hmm.

There was almost a slight feel that the author was trying too hard with some of the characters, too. I could sense an almost Douglas Adams attempt at times, or perhaps Pratchett, but without quite enough panache to carry it off. The drunken, foul mouthed editor (with a backstory, natch) was particularly pantomime, which was a shame.

Still, it is very readable. I’d pick up another book in the series, and I suspect it’d work a lot better purely by already having half the elements introduced. Volume one has about half a series’ worth of ideas crammed in as it is!