The Stranger Times: (The Stranger Times 1)

C. K. McDonnell

Jan 2021 · The Stranger Times Book 1 · Transworld Digital · Narrated by Brendan McDonald

About this audiobook

Brought to you by Penguin.

STOP PRESS! The Stranger Times wins the 2023 British Fantasy Award for Best Audio Work!

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.

© C. K. McDonnell 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Ratings and reviews

Insane - Brilliant - Hilarious. Absolutely loved it. Characters are so well rounded, the comedy is just genius. Highly recommended. Taken to calling people 'the other Tina'

An amazing story, funny, weird hugely enjoyable. Do continue listening to the end of the acknowledgements.

About the author

Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, C K (Caimh) McDonnell is a former stand-up comedian and TV writer. He performed all around the world, had several well-received Edinburgh shows and supported acts such as Sarah Millican on tour before hanging up his clowning shoes to concentrate on writing. He has also written for numerous TV shows and been nominated for a Kid's TV BAFTA.
His debut novel, A Man With One of Those Faces - a comic crime novel - was published in 2016 and spawned The Dublin Trilogy books and the spin-off McGarry Stateside series. They have been Amazon bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic. As C. K. McDonnell, he is the author of The Stranger Times series contemporary comic fantasy series.
Caimh lives in Manchester. To find out more, visit whitehairedirishman.com