Tag: The Stranger Times

The Stranger Times #4: Relight My Fire – C.K. McDonnell

It’s The Stranger Times: Celebrity Edition. They’re all here. Well, the ones that meet a specific criteria are. Regardless, you’re bound to come across a few familiar faces.

It’s the lead up to Halloween so, if you know this series even a little bit, you know you’re in for a treat! And maybe a couple of tricks…

I’ve been wanting more Stella and more Stella is exactly what I got. She may have preferred a smaller role in this book, though, as she didn’t appear to particularly enjoy having a guy fall for her. From the sky. Splattered all over the pavement.

‘You’ve got dead guy all over you, love.’

And that’s only the beginning of the ‘weirdy bollocks’ in this book.

Hannah meets her celebrity crush. Banecroft is given a deadline. Manny’s ability to remember to wear pants is improving. Sometimes.

These days, not only was anything possible, but almost everything was far too believable.

There’s more time spent in a graveyard than your average book and people seem to have a whole new appreciation for Laurence of Arabia. This is the book with the tone deaf roadie and a rage problem which, believe it or not, is not Banecroft’s. Or not only Banecroft’s.

And you’ll be introduced to Brian.

‘Nothing is weirder than Brian.’

With everything that’s going on for the team, I’m surprised they find time to print a newspaper at all.

‘News does not sleep.’

This series has action, humour, strangeness (obviously) and a weird little found family that I absolutely adore. The more I get to know them, the more time I want to spend with them. I will be reading The Stranger Times for as long as new editions keep getting published.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Some comebacks can be murder…

Stella is enjoying life as an almost student, or at least she is until a man falls from the sky right in front of her, leaving a big old hole in the pavement for Manchester Council to fill. The obvious question of how he ended up in the sky in the first place has no obvious answers, which is where The Stranger Times come in.

But this isn’t just the hunt for another story. Dark powers think Stella might have been involved and the only way she and the team can prove her innocence is to find out what the hell is really going on. And what have dodgy gear, disturbed graves and a decommissioned rock star got to do with all this?

Vincent Banecroft has problems of his own in the form of a tall, dark but-definitely-not-handsome man dressed like a funeral who has been sent to make the paper’s editor atone for his sins. Once he finds out exactly what that entails, Banecroft is not keen. Being banished to a Hellscape for all eternity looks like being no fun at all, not least because he has that pale Irish skin that burns really easily…

All that plus territorial ghouls, homicidal felines, eternal (and seemingly unstoppable) gnomes and a celebrity Who’s Who that’d put a royal wedding to shame, and you’re looking at a wild few days for The Stranger Times.

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The Stranger Times #3: Love Will Tear Us Apart – C.K. McDonnell

‘I don’t want you to panic, but things are about to get a bit … weird.’

It’s been almost two years since I wandered into The Stranger Times office, which is an absurd amount of time between visits. To be completely honest, I hadn’t read this book earlier because of the potential for all things lovey dovey. Hannah reconciling with her no good, dirty rotten scoundrel ex and Banecroft reconciling with his deceased wife made the deepest recesses of my brain shout “Ptooey!”, a word I’ve never uttered in my life and likely still don’t know how to pronounce.

You have to help me. I’m in so much trouble.

My triumphant return has taught me a valuable lesson: if I enjoy a series as much as this one, I need to trust the author. I actively avoided this book because the ‘love’ in the title appeared to be referencing the romantic kind and I don’t do romance. If I’d given two seconds of thought to the content of the previous books in the series I would have devoured this one sooner. This is love Stranger Times style, which even a romantiphobe can get on board with.

‘Trust the process.’

My time away also renewed my appreciation for the series. It seems that no matter how much time has passed, I will feel like I never left before I finish the first chapter. Which brings me to the staff of The Stranger Times. These are my people!

And you know what? Curmudgeon Banecroft has a heart after all. It turns out it was mangled and squished under the weight of his grief. I won’t tell you that at one point he made me a little teary eyed because that would imply I also am in possession of a heart.

Be on the lookout for an unidentified frying object, cherubs up to no good and a suitcase that gives Mary Poppins’ carpet bag a run for its money. Make sure to join us for Loon Day, a spot of grave robbing and the hope that we get to spend much more time with Stella in the next book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Love can be a truly terrible thing.

Marriages are tricky at the best of times, especially when one of you is dead.

Vincent Banecroft, the irascible editor of The Stranger Times, has never believed his wife died despite emphatic evidence to the contrary. Now, against all odds, it seems he may actually be proved right; but what lengths will he go to in an attempt to rescue her?

With Banecroft distracted, the shock resignation of assistant editor, Hannah Willis, couldn’t have come at a worse time. It speaks volumes that her decision to reconcile with her philandering ex-husband is only marginally less surprising than Banecroft and his wife getting back together. In this time of crisis, is her decision to swan off to a fancy new-age retreat run by a celebrity cult really the best thing for anyone?

As if that wasn’t enough, one of the paper’s ex-columnists has disappeared, a particularly impressive trick seeing as he never existed in the first place.

Floating statues, hijacked ghosts, homicidal cherubs, irate starlings, Reliant Robins and quite possibly several deeply sinister conspiracies; all-in-all, a typical week for the staff of The Stranger Times.

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The Stranger Times #2: This Charming Man – C.K. McDonnell

On her first day, Hannah’s boss shot himself in the foot. It’s now been three months since Hannah joined The Stranger Times as assistant editor and she’s just returned from two week’s leave (divorce holidays aren’t especially fun), only to have a close encounter with the office toilet. It escaped the building via an upper window. Never a dull moment. 

‘Rumour has it the sun’s come out and people are losing their minds.’ 

Her boss, Vincent Bancroft, editor at large, remains “‘challenging’, in the way a cat sanctuary might use the word to describe a moggy that attempted to rip your face off while you slept.”

Banecroft, Stella, the paper’s purple haired intern, and Manny, their printer, are all currently living at the office. And let’s not forget the spirit that cohabits with Manny. Rounding out the team are Grace, the office manager, Ox, the ufologist, and Reggie, the paper’s paranormal consultant.

So, having been introduced to all of the “woo-woo nonsense” that’s hidden in plain sight in Manchester in the first book, what delights does this sequel contain? Vampires. 

‘They don’t exist.’ 

Sure, tell that to the people who never signed up to be blood donors.

In the course of their investigation, we meet Cogs 

‘Would it kill you to lie?’
‘Actually, dear lady, it would.’ 

and the dog that regularly puts him in his place. The dog quickly became my favourite character.

Because this is The Stranger Times, there’s more to the investigation than meets the eye. Which eye, I hear you ask? Touché. If you didn’t ask, I’d suggest you read the first book for the inside scoop.

I love this dysfunctional team and their investigations. The case of the non-sparkly vampires does have a resolution but that doesn’t mean the vampires are all going the way of their reflection in a mirror. I’m almost certain more blood will be spilled when we catch up with the strangeness in the next book. If not, though, there’s plenty of territory left to cover in this series, from questions about individual team members to the conspiracy theories I’m formulating about the Founders.

With more farts than your average book, a smelly gun and inexplicable Spam, you’ll be grateful this read isn’t presented in Smell-O-Pages. I was delighted to learn how to swear by number and I definitely need to hear more about the woman who was chased by the spectral dinosaur. 

I’m already looking forward to the third book.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be at the Spoonful of Sugar with Stanley.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Vampires do not exist. Everyone knows this. So it’s particularly annoying when they start popping up around Manchester… 

Nobody is pleased about it. Not the Founders, the secret organisation for whom vampires were invented as an allegory, nor the Folk, the magical people hidden in plain sight who only want a quiet life. And definitely not the people of Manchester, because there is nothing more irksome than being murdered by an allegory run amok. Somebody needs to sort this out fast before all Hell really breaks loose – step forward the staff of The Stranger Times.

It’s not like they don’t have enough to be dealing with. Assistant Editor Hannah has come back from getting messily divorced to discover that someone is trying to kidnap a member of their staff and while editor Vincent Banecroft would be delighted to see the back of any of his team, he doesn’t like people touching his stuff – it’s the principle of the thing. 

Throw in a precarious plumbing situation, gambling debts, an entirely new way of swearing, and a certain detective inspector with what could be kindly referred to as ‘a lot of baggage’ and it all adds up to another hectic week in the life of the newspaper committed to reporting the truth that nobody else will touch.

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In Other News: Stories From The Stranger Times – C.K. McDonnell

I loved The Stranger Times and was gearing up for the sequel, This Charming Man, when I suddenly remembered I never read these short stories. They’re the perfect reminder of what I loved about the first book and I’m even more keen to read the sequel now.

A Dog’s Life

It’s not uncommon for a dog to eat something it probably shouldn’t have. What poor Rubble ate definitely wasn’t on the menu and it’s up to Marcia to extract it, one way or another. 

‘Dogs cannot do that. I paid attention in veterinary school – I really did. Believe me, if that was a thing, I’m sure I’d remember.’ 

Love and Death in the Time of Planned Engineering Works

Karen just wants to cross the bridge. Well, that’s not all she wants to do, but it’s one of the things. 

‘This is my bridge and you can’t cross it without my say so.’ 

The Blitz Spirits

Written at the beginning of the pandemic, this short story shows that even ghosts find the news depressing. Tommy and the other ghosts at the station have different skillsets, all of which are useful in the right circumstances. 

This was his life now, bobbing and weaving, doing all he could to avoid the living. 

The Rain

Rain (obviously), chips and footnotes. 

But there are some things that we do not talk about. Some things you let be because the other options are worse. 

I enjoyed all of the stories but my favourite was, without a doubt, A Dog’s Life.

One of the best clothing descriptions in recent memory: 

She was wearing an odd mix of black and pink. It was as if she’d been covered in glue, shoved in a cannon and fired through the wardrobes of a goth and a Disney princess. 

You too can get a copy of this free ebook by signing up for Caimh’s newsletter at https://thestrangertimes.co.uk.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

A collection of wonderfully weird short stories from the world of The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell. This free e-book of this collection is only available to people who sign up for Caimh’s monthly newsletter.

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The Stranger Times – C.K. McDonnell

Hannah’s new boss shot himself in the foot during her job interview and that’s not even the weirdest thing that’s happened this week. She’s just joined The Stranger Times, a newspaper that reports “the weird and wonderful from around the world ‘and beyond’”. Think Fortean Times.

‘You’d be surprised what I’d believe. It’s been a hell of a week.’

Hannah is the new Tina, AKA, assistant editor. Her boss (the guy with the new hole in his foot), Vincent Banecroft, is “foul-smelling, foul-mouthed and foul-tempered”. Banecroft lives in the office, as does Manny (clothing optional), who’s in charge of the paper’s printing department.

Grace, the office manager, spends much of her time managing Banecroft’s mouth. Stella, whose job title I’m still unsure of, lives with Grace and may be my favourite character. Reggie is the paper’s paranormal consultant and Ox is their ufologist and “general paranoid”. The paper is owned by Mrs Harnforth.

Then there’s Simon, who desperately wants to work for The Stranger Times but is having trouble getting past their No Simon policy.

Meanwhile, the police are attempting to investigate some events that aren’t exactly in their jurisdiction, events that are definitely strange enough for The Stranger Times.

‘Right,’ said Banecroft, ‘let’s kick off this parade of inadequacy, then, shall we?’

This book was so much more fun than I’d expected. I got sucked straight in and was entertained the entire time. I enjoyed getting to know Hannah and her new colleagues. There was a Big Bad doing Big Bad things and a whole bunch of goings on that regular people aren’t aware of.

While I was introduced to various ‘Types’ and magical bits and pieces, I don’t really have my head around this part of the world yet. I’m hoping the gaps in my knowledge will be filled in more when I read the sequel.

I really enjoyed the newspaper clippings scattered throughout the book; my favourite was Homework Eats Dog. I would definitely subscribe to this newspaper. There’s an article about a haunted toilet in Falkirk!

‘It’s in a pub. People claim that it speaks – issuing death threats, ominous predictions and …’

‘And?’

‘Shortbread recipes.’

There was a bit of a disjointed feel to some of the chapters. Sometimes it took me a page or two to figure out which part of the story I was reading about, especially when a new character or plot line was introduced. It all came together in the end though.

Some questions were answered in this book but there were a bunch that are being held over for the sequel. I expect I’ll be rereading this book a little closer to the sequel’s publication date.

The employees at The Stranger Times are a bunch of oddballs but they’re my kind of oddballs. I think I’d fit right in with this team.

‘The world is not what you thought it to be.’

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

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.

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