Happy Publication Day to C.K. McDonnell on the publication of The Stranger Times. This author might be better known to many of you as Caimh McDonnell, author of the Dublin Trilogy and the Bunny McGarry books. He’s also one of my husband’s favourite authors which trust me, is an endorsement not given lightly.

The Stranger Times, marks a departure in subject – hence the change of name, but lacks none of Caimh’s trademark dark humour and wit.

What’s the book about?

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.

---

I’m delighted to note that The Stranger Times has been getting rave reviews and some high profile exposure.

McDonnell packs jokes into every layer of his writing – narration, description, dialogue – and they always propel, rather than hold up, the business of storytelling, which is the real test of a comic author. He’s also got an enjoyable sense of the macabre; these dark forces are not messing around . . . The Stranger Times is ripping entertainment from start to finish. 

The Times

I tore through The Stranger Times. Like an entertaining collision between the worlds of Mick Herron and Charlie Stross, it’s a novel that proves ancient eldritch horror is no match for old-school journalism.

Christopher Brookmyre (bestselling author of Fallen Angel)

Wonderfully dark, extremely funny, and evocative of Terry Pratchett – which I think is the highest compliment I can give. 

Adam Kay (bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt

The Stranger Times also featured on Simon Mayo’s Books of the Year podcast – link here

Purchasing Links

---

About the Author

Irishman Caimh McDonnell is a former professional stand-up comedian and TV writer who now concentrates all of his energies on writing books. Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, he has taken the hop across the water and calls Manchester his home.

His TV writing work has seen him work on some of the biggest topical comedy shows on British TV, such as the The Sarah Millican Television Programme, Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You. His work as a children’s TV writer earned him a BAFTA nomination for the CBBC animated series ‘Pet Squad’ which he created.

These days he can be found happily writing his next book in the office in the back garden, with only his dog and his imagination for company.

His book I Have Sinned was shortlisted for the 2019 Kindle Storyteller Award. Previously, his debut novel A Man With One of Those Faces was nominated for best novel at the 2017 CAP awards.

You can keep up with Caimh via his website, Twitter and Facebook

You can read Caimh’s Five on Friday here

https://play.acast.com/s/booksoftheyear/ckmcdonnell-strangertimes-