{"title":"Books by C. K. McDonnell","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780552177351","title":"This Charming Man","description":"\u003cb\u003eSTOP PRESS! \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThis Charming Man\u003c\/i\u003e shortlisted for a 'Dead Good Reader Award' - the 'The New Kid on the Block Award for Best New Series'! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eVampires do not exist. Everyone knows this. So it's particularly annoying when they start popping up around Manchester . . . \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNobody 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrow 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eThis Charming Man\u003c\/i\u003e is the second book in the critically acclaimed \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times \u003c\/i\u003eseries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny, and evocative of Terry Pratchett - which I think is the highest compliment I can give.' \u003c\/b\u003eADAM KAY, about \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times . . .\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003e'A gag-filled romp . . . in the spirit of Terry Pratchett.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003e'Great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003e'Fresh and genuinely funny.'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSFX\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43128905171122,"sku":"9780552177351","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780552177351_48259dca-6323-4481-8bb7-c229012c2cdf.jpg?v=1786013684"},{"product_id":"9780552177344","title":"The Stranger Times","description":"\u003cb\u003e'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' \u003c\/b\u003eproclaimed ADAM KAY, author of the No.1 bestselling \u003ci\u003eThis is Going to Hurt\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise' \u003c\/b\u003esaid the \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJASON MANFORD thinks it's \u003cb\u003e'Hilarious. You'll never look at Manchester the same way again.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Chronicles of St Mary's\u003c\/i\u003e series author JODI TAYLOR declared\u003cb\u003e 'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd \u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e called it \u003cb\u003e'ripping entertainment from start to finish.'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThere are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e is on hand to report them . . . \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen tragedy strikes in her first week on the job \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReaders love\u003ci\u003e The Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***** 'A delight from start to finish - laugh out loud funny yet with plenty of thrills.'\u003cbr\u003e***** 'Full of wit and humour, and knows how to keep the reader hooked.'\u003cbr\u003e***** 'You'll soon fall in love . . . fans of Pratchett, Gaiman, Aaronovich will be blown away.'","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201715372210,"sku":"9780552177344","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780552177344.jpg?v=1786013683"},{"product_id":"9781804993354","title":"Relight My Fire","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times - \u003c\/i\u003ewinner of the 2023 British Fantasy Award for Best Audio Work!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSome comebacks can be murder . . .\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStella 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e come in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut 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?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVincent 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 . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll that plus territorial ghouls, homicidal felines, eternal (and seemingly unstoppable) gnomes and a celebrity \u003ci\u003eWho's Who\u003c\/i\u003e that'd put a royal wedding to shame, and you're looking at a wild few days for \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRelight My Fire \u003c\/i\u003eis the fourth book in the acclaimed and brilliantly funny \u003ci\u003eStranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e series.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReaders love \u003ci\u003eRelight My Fire!\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I have had a hoot reading this whole series!'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Do yourself a favour, and go and read The Stranger Times books, because they’re really THAT good.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'I just cannot rave enough about how much I love these books.'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54911776883061,"sku":"9781804993354","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781804993354_c55e71ea-734a-489f-a07e-71fc2a26c7b1.jpg?v=1786028396"},{"product_id":"9780857505392","title":"Ring the Bells","description":"\u003cb\u003e‘Fiendishly clever and monstrously funny, C K McDonnell's latest will steal your soul and eat your brain. In the nicest possible way, of course’ \u003c\/b\u003eTOM HOLT\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Exciting, funny and very occasionally, absolutely heartbreaking' \u003c\/b\u003eJODI TAYLOR\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStart decking the halls with holly, your next laugh-out-loud funny festive must-read - the new \u003ci\u003eStranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e novel - is here \u003ci\u003e. . . \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnd for most people, that means a time of celebration, relaxation and inebriation, but not for the staff of \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times . . . \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile a book club meeting ending in a triple murder isn’t unprecedented, it is at least noteworthy. And this is no ordinary book-club-triple-murder either, as it seems to involve a librarian possessed by a chaotic entity who has broken through from another dimension and is hellbent on vengeance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut who would want to summon such a thing? And - importantly - how is anyone going to be able to send it back?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs if that wasn’t enough to be going on with, there's a shocking revelation about a member of \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e team’s past. It will brings family together - which is, of course, part of what Christmas is all about - but not in a way that’s ever going to make it into a Hallmark movie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAdd demonically-possessed Santas, blood-thirsty books and the ghost of a legendary nightclub into the mix and it’s looking like an apocalyptic Christmas for the good folk at \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times . . . \u003c\/i\u003e . .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682780717429,"sku":"9781804993378","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":55896348918133,"sku":"9780857505392","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781804993378_b43c2e02-ea30-4496-bef8-a651a65346f6.jpg?v=1792511667"},{"product_id":"9780552177368","title":"Love Will Tear Us Apart","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times - w\u003c\/i\u003einner of the 2023 British Fantasy Award for Best Audio Work! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLove can be a truly terrible thing.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarriages are tricky at the best of times, especially when one of you is dead.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVincent Banecroft, the irascible editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e, 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?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith 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?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFloating 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger Times\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291683926389,"sku":"9780552177368","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780552177368_55168fc9-4ef5-4d41-81d0-ff2e8d184d32.jpg?v=1786013685"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-c-k-mcdonnell.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}