This Charming Man

Stranger Times, Book 2

By: C. K. McDonnell

Narrated by: Brendan McDonald

Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

This Charming Man is the second book in the critically acclaimed The Stranger Times series.

©2022 C. K. McDonnell (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A gag-filled romp...in the spirit of Terry Pratchett." (The Times)

"Great characters, a jet-propelled plot and a winning premise." (Guardian)

"Fresh and genuinely funny." (SFX)

Extremely entertaining

I am a huge fan of the Bunny books and now these Stranger Times books. This one didn’t make me laugh out loud as much as the others but still better and more entertaining than most.

Well done!!!

The narrator does a wonderful job of distinguishing each character and the action that takes place. The characters are very interesting and I look forward to learning more about them, especially Vincent! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Entertaining installment, somewhat weak ending

The book faithfully adhered to the storyline of the first in the series and continued to develop the characters. The resolution of the main conflict could have been stronger.

Narrator & story

Great narration. Great story
Fun characters
Can’t wait for next.
They should make a movie of it.
I could see depp as baincroft. His great comeback.

Triple espresso for the chipmunks!

The Stranger Times is one of my favorite listens (weird/mystery/comedy perfection!!) and this follow up has the same unique blend. Looking forward to the next one!! ✨👌✨

Brilliant writing and performance

The story, pace, and performance were excellent.

Entertaining and interesting, with a rich and diverse cast of characters. I think I liked it even better than the first book in the series, which I really liked.

irreverent, sarcastic, shocking and gross but still fun and well executed. the very end sets it up for a third book.

the imagination of the author and the perfection of the narrator/audio performer really struck me, and I've listened to several hundred audiobooks, almost entirely sci-fi/fantasy.

Definitely get it!

Interesting twists and turns

I enjoyed the story while driving alone. Made the trip go faster. Looking for next book.

Awesome as always

But why didn’t the narrator do Dr. Carter’s laugh??? I love the laugh!! Otherwise perfect.

Awesome!

Loved everything about it. It kept me engaged the entire time.It's a great listen, especially on a long drive.

Great book!

This book, which is the second in the series, continues to develop the characters from the first book, and really brings everything together. The narrator is very good, and brings the characters to life. I’m hoping it won’t be too long before. The next look in the series comes out!