The Foreign Desk

by Alexander Clifford

Fact? Fiction? It doesn't matter.

Bumbling journalist Henry Henderson is on his next assignment. This time to the sleepy skiing town of Creleon, Spain. Dispatched by his paranoid boss, Henderson goes on a quest for weather altering machine that could change the world as we know it. Jolly japes ensue although a storm seems to be brewing that could be his last on the foreign desk.

Expect to be charmed as you are transported to a time of chummy old-school journalists, clacking typewriters, and daring adventure. Inspired by The Grand Budapest Hotel and Stefan Zweig, this novella is an amusing, blustering, and heartwarming romp through the mountains.

Audible Audio

Published June 14, 2018

Reviews

[Maddie O.]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This novella could have been a three or four star read with the help of a good editor- it had a neat premise and some good moments. I couldn’t give it higher than two stars, though, because there were a bunch of distracting grammar/syntax mistakes and I felt like the characters weren’t fully fleshed out. I do think that the author shows promise and creativity, and would like to read of something of theirs that went through a more thorough publishing process.

[Joy]

Henry Henderson is a journalist for a small British newspaper. He loves being able to travel the world and write sensational stories ("Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.") His boss with a cockamamie name, Mylocent, sends Henry on a cockamamie assignment - to search for a weather machine in the fictional Spanish ski town of Creleon, which is also the site of an old copper mine. Henderson is a bit full of himself, but enjoys his job and the town, and the adventure. From trying to discover the truth about the weather machine, to an accusation of murder, he has quite an adventure, but, unfortunately, we never get to fully go along for the ride. Henry jumps from one incident to the next, with little connection inbetween. It felt more like an outline or a treatmemt for the story than an actual story. I loved the idea of such a cockamamie plot, but it felt flat. The characters need to be fleshed out more, and more details need to go into the events of the story, and moments inbetween to connect them. The murder is solved in more or less one sentence, with no explanation given as to how it was solved. We, as the reader, don't get to go along for the ride. I would rather this be a full-length novel with more detail. I think the author and his idea are both good, but he needs to give his readers more. Let the reader join Henry on his adventure, instead of sitting us down for the slide show afterward.

[Jamie Bee]

Gentlemanly Wit...But Not a Lot of Substance

I'm not quite sure how to categorize this book; it has elements of mystery, suspense, crime...but has the feel of a stream-of-consciousness buddy road trip. The tone is meant to be funny...and it is at the beginning with this rather droll 1st person narrator but doesn't quite sustain through the novel. It is definitely meant to take place in the past, as the journalist protagonist works on a typewriter and the newsroom is smoke filled, yet anachronistic things like a mention of snowboarding sneak in. The plot meanders...first the protagnist is on the hunt for a weather machine for his next story and then gets accused of murder that wasn't really hinted at as a possibility.

The novel also suffered from lack of copyediting...or even proofreading. Inconsistent formatting (sometimes letters/articles are italicized, sometimes not), lack of or wrong punctuation (sometimes no period at ends of sentences), and odd style (starting a piece of dialog with a numeral, not a written-out number) sometimes made this a hard read. I downgraded the review 1 star because of these issues.

If you like to read journalistic mystery that is written with humor and don't mind that there isn't much substance to it, you might enjoy this quick-read book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Leonie Stanley]

Henry Henderson is off on the next adventure in search of a weather machine in the rustic town in the Creleon mountain range. His employer sends him on this expedition in the hopes to be the first with the story.
The book has the makings of a great suspense but alas it never materialised. It seems that the book was either written to seem rushed, or it was several sentences and ideas flung together to make up a book. There was no build up and in my opinion the book flatlined from the start. The storyline seemed confused at times as the setting would change from one paragraph to the next without a lead up to the situation.
The only part I enjoyed was the section where an article was written on ‘Creleon – The up and coming resort turning heads and cooler than ever’, which was sent to his office for publication. That piece was written far better than the rest of the book.
The characters were all bland and only the chocolatier, Mademoiselle Garnier conjured up the character from ‘Chocolat’, as she wrapped the chocolates in ribbons, but that was all.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book but continued reading in the hopes that something will change.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Friscomama]

The Foreign Desk is a charming quick read, definitely five stars if you like journalism books and movies. The protagonist is likable, despite the harmless fiction he mixes into his news stories. There are no needless words, the writing is clear, and the pace of the story never slows down.
Bonus: no violence or raunchy language.
I did receive a copy from BookSirens, but my review is not affected by that.

[Dale Stubbart]

I enjoyed reading this book. It didn't go the way that I expected, and that's always refreshing. Clean, amusing. The kind of book you can relax into.

[Mary]

Not worth the price or the time.

[Wendy]

Silly book & just couldn't finish it