Book 37 of 2023: The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell

[vivdunstan]

Just finished The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell, the first in a series of novels where the staff of a fictionalised version of the Fortean Times newspaper investigate weird things in Manchester.

I liked a lot about it. The mix of the staff is both effective from a storytelling point of view and often humour inducing. The weird stories that they publish about and then discover some of which may be true are also consistently entertaining.

On the downside the author chose to use multiple points of view (POV) far too much, especially early on. You'd be constantly switching at a new chapter, including to the viewpoint of numerous ancillary characters, and it jarred, and broke the flow and immersion. I hope that he might tone that down later in the series.

However the core mystery was a page turner, and I will definitely be reading more in the series. There are some very interesting back stories of the main characters still to be revealed. So recommended, 4/5 stars, but beware the POV issue.

Comments

[a_cubed]

As well as the Mur Laffery one I mentioned in your last post with this one in it, this reminds me of Men in Black, first movie, where K says the tabloids are the best reporting in the world...

[vivdunstan]

There’s definitely signs in the book that the journalists are far better at investigating than the police. Even the very amateur ones, and not just the editor who I think is ex tabloid or similar.

[a_cubed]

Note that "tabloid" in the US means the freaky made-up things (Elvis, Aliens, conspiracy theories) rather than the gutter press with some relationship to reality (except for political stuff) we have in the UK.

[vivdunstan]

Ah good point. Yup, different from the usual meaning I’m used to.