I was offered this book as an ARC by NetGalley and found it to be an easy fun read. As an urban fantasy it vaguely reminded me of 'Rivers of London' in style and may be worth trying if you are a fan of that series. It also contained one of the best acknowledgements I have read in a long while!

Don’t you adore it when you chance upon a new author that you love ❤️? Well let me introduce you to the work of C K McDonnell, an Irish stand up comedian turned Manchester-based novelist.

Soon to be divorced Hannah interviews for a job at The Stranger Times, a ‘newspaper’ that covers stories on the weird and wacky across the world. However bizarre the stories - including those garnered during Loon Day - none are as odd as the colleagues Hannah finds herself working alongside: alcoholic editor, Banecroft; writers Ox and Reggie; printer Manny; receptionist, Grace and the undefinable, Stella. And then there’s Simon.

I challenge you to read this book without falling for the characters and grinning (at the very least) whilst reading (at least some of) this book. Fantastic and can’t wait to read the next in the series.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for an arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

In Manchester, there is a weekly newspaper pubiished called The Stranger Times. It is full of the weird and unexplained news that is rarely reported elsewhere.

Hannah Willis has just left her cheating husband and desperate to be able to provide for herself, finds herself in the role of assistant editor to the most disgusting, foul - mouthed man who has a very low opinion of the paper and his staff.

Just hours in to her new role, tragedy strikes and the staff of The Stranger Times have to do some real journalistic work. They soon discover that some of the stories that they had always dismissed may not be quite as imagined as they had thought and before long they are battling dark forces.

Although this book took me longer than usual to read, I did enjoy it and looked forward to diving back in to the strange world that Hannah now finds herself in.

I have high hopes for the second in the series.

An easy to read, quite comical crazy book.

I wasn’t sure at first if I was going to enjoy it but it wasn’t bad.

Will definitely carry on with the rest of the series.

Summary: Funny with plenty of witty asides at supernatural world, this is a must read for fantasy fans.
I seem to be making a habit of reading series out of order and while that can lead to some confusion re the sequence of events, I'm delighted that I did start reading The Stranger Times series in 2022 as it is one of my "finds" and reading highlights of the year. And now, onto the review.
The Stranger Times is book one is this highly amusing fantasy series (book three is due out 9th February 2023), set in Manchester. I would categorised the genre as also being "magical realism" as it is set in a contemporary Manchester that the reader can recognise albeit one where the supernatural exists. Though the majority of humankind are unaware of this precarious coexistence and our dedicated team at The Stranger Times newspaper, spent their time reporting the stories that other people report/believe to be true. This is an important tenent of life at TST - they report, but are not stating that the events are actually true. However, this motley crew soon find themselves under investigation for murder, and later seeking the support of the local police to ensure that justice is done.
Funny with plenty of witty asides at supernatural world, this is a must read for fantasy fans.

The Stranger Times is a weekly newspaper based in Manchester dedicated to reporting the weird and wonderful. It publishes all things unexplained and inexplicable. Run by a foul mouthed, ill-tempered, drunken editor who thinks the best way to manage his staff is to continually shout at, belittle and shoot at them. The staff themselves are a group of misfits, each with their own secret, and a reason for ending up working at the Stranger Times. The assistant editor post has seen a flow of people in the role, and the latest in the door is Hannah Willis, who has her own problems and things she would rather not be brought up. Such as accidentally setting her cheating ex-husband's house on fire.

Hanna is barely in the job when tragedy strikes and the Stranger Times is thrown into some real life genuine investigative journalism. The team split up to cover more angles, and when they collate their stories they dismiss them as nonsense. But soon something happens that makes them realise that some of the things they report are horrifyingly real. Reporting on this story becomes a matter of life or death.

I have read the Stranger Times series in reverse order and it has in no way detracted from my enjoyment of it. It is a series that is well written, makes you laugh, keeps you entertained, and keeps the plot twisting and turning. I find myself enjoying it the way I enjoyed Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, laughing out loud, rereading passages, and not wanting the adventure to end. I highly recommend this book, and the series. Perhaps start at the beginning of the series. Or don’t. Either way, you will be entertained and be left wanting more!

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

The Stranger Times
by C.K.McDonnell



Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Sci-fi and Fantasy

I has this book on my “to buy when I've the cash” list, as it sounded such fun. Then yay, found it and the next two on netgally.
What a fun read this was, a real mix of characters, an interesting plot, a fabulous newspaper, full of the weird and wonderful. Its hard to pick out what I loved best, Manny and his “we”, Grace and the three strikes, Stella, sixteen or so going on sixty, the wonderful Reggie ( and his knives), clever unappreciated Ox, Hannah of course or...well...Banecroft. He has just the best of lines, had me sniggering constantly at what he said and the way the others constantly tried to pull him up.
Its a fun story, full of little side snippets, fabulous humour, a story that could – with a big stretch of supernatural belief - be true. I'm so pleased to have read this, I know it'll be one I'll happily reread, seeing things I missed first time round.

Stars: Five, a really fresh and fun supernatural read.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers

Why didn't I hear about this book/series before? I haven't laughed so much in a long time. The story revolves around the staffs of "The Stranger Times"- a weekly newspaper that reports unusual events. The banter is everything. Things do get heated up when a "creature" starts to rip apart people and the magazine gets involved. Suddenly, they realize that magic is probably real and chaos ensues. Highly recommend.

Hannah was living the high life when her husband cheats on her and she decides to leave that life behind, with only a small arson charge under her belt. After a train wreck of an interview she has another lined up with The Stranger Times and encounters a quirky batch of people. We have an eager non employee, just waiting for the boss to give in and hire him. A man arguing with another threatening to jump... its a Monday thing apparently. A friendly face with a surly teen runaway in tow. And the boss, a raging alcoholic with a dislike for everyone and everything... apart from running all the crazy stories.

Hannah is thrust into this mad house but when bodies start turning up with odd explanations, The Stranger Times has to do what it does best... print the weird and wonderful truth, with or without the help of the police.

We are given parts of this story through all eyes and get a good insight into the running of the Paper, the people that make it what it is, and the supernatural world that lingers under the surface.

This book had me laughing a good few times and I am definitely going to pick up the rest of this series!

I had put off reading this because the cover wasn't very inspiring but when I saw the new books coming out I finally sat down to read it. I had been missing out!
This was hilarious. Irreverent and witty with characters that jump off the page and grab you by the throat.
I couldn't help but bookmark several pages just for the fantastic turn of phrase of Vincent Banecroft who, I'll admit, is the voice of my subconscious.
I loved all of the staff of The Stranger Times and it appealed to my supernatural tv upbringing.
Basically I'd promote this book as- If the X Files met Terry Pratchett's The Truth and was written by Douglas Adams.
Highly recommend.

horoughly enjoyed this book. Loved the weird other-worldliness of it and the way it was sprinkled throughout with humorous one liners. I particularly chuckled (and agreed) with the comment about Matt Damon!
I loved the writer’s style and the way the book just flowed off the pages. Even the characters who I thought were ‘normal’ had surprising and unexpected sides to them. This was an “I’m sorry I’ve finished it” kind of book. I totally recommend it and I can’t wait to start Book 2 in the series.

Not for me. I think the 'Pratchett' comparison threw me off; I can see where the copy writer was coming from, but it just isn't Pratchetty in my opinion. I hope it does well, it is good. It's just not for me.

When Netgalley offered a copy of The stranger Times for review, I thought it sounded fascinating, and right up my alley, so I applied.

I'm not sure what I expected, but the book took a v e r y long time to get interesting. In fact, I had read more than 40% when the speed finally picked up and things got moving. Another ten percent, and I bought the audio version because reading just seemed to drag so much.

The audio book is excellent, due to the wonderful narration of Brendan McDonald. He really kept me listening to the very end. I'm sure I still wouldn't have finished had I gone on actually reading the book.

It is amusing in places, but on the whole, it wasn't my cup of tea after all, although it does have all the elements of a good story.

I can't put my finger on it, but somehow, the sum of it didn't really work for me.

Still, I wish to thank Random HouseUK and Netgalley for my review copy of this book.

A wonderfully amusing story about the weird and the whacky in a modern setting.

Some really great characters in The Stranger Times crew that really play well off of each other to solve the mystery of the big whale of a story they're going after.

Such an easy to read book with some extracts from the Stranger Times stories at the beginning of each chapter made this a great original book and I absolutely want to read the next tales in this series.

The Stranger Times Pub Date 14 Jan 2021 |

Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Hannah is trying to start her life over after breaking up with her cheating husband. That means she has to get a job, even if it means working for The Stranger Times. The tabloids specialise in "weird" articles, but the team soon finds several. We learn that the paper isn't as crazy as it sounds. After breaking up with her husband, Hannah desperately looks for a job and eventually finds a position as an associate editor. Fremden Zeit. Then things get weird.... featuring monsters, ghosts and other supernatural creatures; this is a black humorous paranormal story that I thoroughly enjoyed and who enjoys this genre

A weekly newspaper called Stranger Times and based in Manchester. The team there are very diverse. It solely reports on "unexplained phenomena" such as haunted toilets, UFOs and the like. Hannah, after an initially unrevealed major life change, finds herself being interviewed for a rather unspecified role at the paper to be the "new Tina" there. A series of other "Tinas" have left usually after short periods. This is fantasy with humour (a difficult genre). Would it be for me?

There is much strangeness here from the start. Other than the issues at the Stranger Times there is a cabal of immortals who run the world and Moretti, one of them, appears to be up to something in Manchester. The book follows what happens with Moretti's plans and the newspaper at a fair pace.

It's worth noting that the editor of Stranger Times, one Vincent Banecroft, bear a passing resemblance to on Jackson Lamb of Slough House… Those familiar with Mick Herron's work will immediately have an idea of what to expect (& I reckon might enjoy this). Those who do not get this reference should be prepared for an appalling manager who at best is rather unpleasant.

I did know this author from his Dublin Trilogy (of at least 5 books…) which I also enjoyed. That's a humourous crime series - another "difficult" genre - however I would probably say this might be a better series. I could go on however my thoughts on this are actually quite simple. I really enjoyed reading this. The story was better than half decent. The characters were great (and far better than those in some "normal" books I've read. The pace was good. For entertainment that pretty much covers what I want in a story. At the time of writing this I've started on the next book in the series simply because I wanted to. 4.5/5

This was a fun urban fantasy read. The Stranger Times is a newspaper reporting on all the strange events that occur in the world and it has just acquired a new assistant editor in the person of Hannah Willis.

I found the beginning of this a bit confusing as we see things through Hannah’s eyes but as she becomes more familiar with her colleagues, the story settles down. The characters are all completely unique but as the story progresses, we see how much they do care for support each other, even the extremely bad-tempered editor Vincent.

The mystery itself was intriguing with a very shadowy but powerful secret society, the Founders controlling events. I’m really hoping to find out more about this mysterious organisation in the next volumes.

This is a light- hearted story with some very dark elements and I loved the comedy between the characters some of which was laugh out loud funny.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House UK for my ARC.

annah once had a superficial but very wealthy life in London. Then she found out her husband had cheated on her multiple times. She may have got a leetle angry and accidentally set the house on fire. It was an accident, she swears. Now she refuses to take any money from him and is trying to stand on her own two feet, but having dropped out of university to be a trophy wife there aren't many job openings. So she finds herself 'interviewing' for a job at a backstreet Manchester newspaper called The Stranger Times which, for the Brits amongst us, takes over where The News of the World and other sensationalist newspapers left off. Headlines usually feature Elvis, aliens, and/or ghosts. Her co-workers are an eclectic group of misfits, conspiracy theorists, broken hacks, and truculent teenagers who subsist on copious quantities of tea and biscuits. The editor is a alcoholic who likes to fire people multiple times a day.

When an aspiring reporter is found dead at the bottom of a tall building under construction the police are quick to classify it a suicide, but nothing seems to add up - could it be that one of the fantastical stories they print week-in, week-out might be true?

This has Rivers of London vibes, but less serious, maybe more like the Brentford Trilogy. It's funny and an interesting read. On to the next in the series.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Stranger Times , set in Manchester, is definitely an odd- ball comedy with Gothic undercurrents, but it is such outrageous fun! It is quirky, and has outlandish characters, with a fast paced sense of the ridiculous, it’s like trying to avoid several car crashes without leaving the building!
The building in question is a disused church, which sets the scene for a fight between Good and Evil. The newspaper picks up very weird and strange stories, in which aliens and paranormal items seem to be the speciality, think Men in Black, as Tommy Lee Jones’s character believes, all weird periodicals contain the truth.
Hannah applies for a job at the newspaper. She has left her cheating husband and needs financial independence. She is also hiding a past event that ironically, makes her the perfect person for the job of assistant editor. Her interview ends with a fire and a shooting, after the shock of meeting the boss of the paper.
Vincent Banecroft, is a crass, uncouth, drunken, foul mouthed, dirty, shabby, and accident prone person, but a darned good editor. Think Jackson Lamb, in the Slough House novels by Mick Herron. Initially cowed by this person, as Hannah grows in confidence, she begins to challenge her boss.
This novel is full of curious and intriguing people, all have a hidden back story, all reveal hidden and unique talents, and they genuinely support and care for each other and their unusual newspaper.
This is the first book in this series, I’m so lucky to have the next two novels waiting for me, my Christmas entertainment has just got a lot more fun! I have already recommended this to my book group.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Random House UK and Transworld publishers for such an enjoyable gift this season! A five star rating. I will leave reviews on Goodreads and Amazon

What a fun book. A really enjoyable, past-paced read. Full of humour and interesting characters. I can't wait to read the next two books in the series.