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Papercuts
Through world wars and civil strife, the Bangor Express has never missed an issue, but now it is losing money and Rob Cullen has absolutely no idea that he's the man to save it. It's been a long time since Rob had a real story to get his teeth into, just as well then that he can rely on the Express crew to back him up. They're like a family. A dysfunctional, highly unpopular and poverty-stricken family.
10 pages, Audio CD
First published February 3, 2016
29 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Colin Bateman
76 books353 followersColin Bateman was a journalist in Northern Ireland before becoming a full-time writer. His first novel, Divorcing Jack, won the Betty Trask Prize, and all his novels have been critically acclaimed. He wrote the screenplays for the feature films of Divorcing Jack, Crossmaheart and Wild About Harry. He lives in Northern Ireland with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
February 19, 2016
Colin Bateman has long been one of my favourite authors. I like his zany, black sense of humour.
I like his humorous books, like the Mystery Man series, but I also liked his Murphy's Law books in which he wrote very gritty crime, conjured up some great characters and delivered the stories with a light touch and a sense of humour.
Now he's taken a new direction.
His newest book is called Papercuts, which is about the trials and tribulations of a weekly newspaper in Bangor in Northern Ireland.
I really enjoyed this book but I must declare some bias.
I worked for 30 years on mainstream newspapers. So I recognise the setting, the character types, the daily intrigue, and the thrill of the case. I also recognise the challenges: the moral dilemmas, all the personal many agendas, the legal deliberations, and the myriad egos you have to tip-toe around to get each paper out.
It took me 30 years in the business to accumulate the depth of stories that this newspaper gathers in just a few weeks. But this, clearly, is a story based in a much tougher neck of the woods than my experiences.
We feared for the welfare of our editor just twice in my time -- once when a group of disgruntled bikies filed into his office and closed the door behind them, and once when we somehow upset the local vigoro association and two or three Amazon-like women insisted on a closed-door meeting with him too.
But heck this is fiction, in which art accelerates life, and I thank Bateman for transporting me to an environment that's not a million miles away from where I used to work.
It's a new venture for Bateman.
He has a new publisher and I gather he released this novel separately as eight short stories then released them together in one book. It's a mark of his skill as a writer that he tied it all together so well.
I like his humorous books, like the Mystery Man series, but I also liked his Murphy's Law books in which he wrote very gritty crime, conjured up some great characters and delivered the stories with a light touch and a sense of humour.
Now he's taken a new direction.
His newest book is called Papercuts, which is about the trials and tribulations of a weekly newspaper in Bangor in Northern Ireland.
I really enjoyed this book but I must declare some bias.
I worked for 30 years on mainstream newspapers. So I recognise the setting, the character types, the daily intrigue, and the thrill of the case. I also recognise the challenges: the moral dilemmas, all the personal many agendas, the legal deliberations, and the myriad egos you have to tip-toe around to get each paper out.
It took me 30 years in the business to accumulate the depth of stories that this newspaper gathers in just a few weeks. But this, clearly, is a story based in a much tougher neck of the woods than my experiences.
We feared for the welfare of our editor just twice in my time -- once when a group of disgruntled bikies filed into his office and closed the door behind them, and once when we somehow upset the local vigoro association and two or three Amazon-like women insisted on a closed-door meeting with him too.
But heck this is fiction, in which art accelerates life, and I thank Bateman for transporting me to an environment that's not a million miles away from where I used to work.
It's a new venture for Bateman.
He has a new publisher and I gather he released this novel separately as eight short stories then released them together in one book. It's a mark of his skill as a writer that he tied it all together so well.
March 17, 2017
I was a big fan of Bateman at the start of his writing career right up until around 5 years ago, when I just became tired of the same old formula that I saw him churning out on a yearly basis. Having got this cheaply on audio, I found it entertaining in typical irreverent Bateman fashion without being blown away. Given the sudden ending of the novel, I'm assuming that this is the first in another series, allowing him to give Dan Starkey another rest. Won't be rushing out for the sequel, but if it was available as another deal, I wouldn't discount reading it.
October 9, 2016
Unusually for a crime novel this is set in a newspaper office, which is a rich picking ground for a writer. The Bangor Express may be a local paper or rather a community paper as Rob Cullen, the new editor likes to remind his staff but all of human life is there in stories great and small. It is set in Northern Ireland so it's sectarianism is acknowledged but is not allowed to dominate.
This book is rather like a newspaper with several strands of investigations some of greater significance than others so it keeps the readers' interest. Why is the library holding a book amnesty? Who is Maria? Is there more to the immigrants' car washing business? And in the background is the newspaper office with all the usual office tensions (does anyone else remember the very funny British TV series Drop the Dead Donkey, which was also set in a newspaper office?).
Colin Bateman's style is lively, funny and a pleasure to read. There were nice touches like the film All the President's Men being compulsory viewing for cub reporters (it's about Watergate for those not around at the time).
Although the book ended with an exciting incident the end itself felt abrupt. However this made an amusing holiday read and it's a 3.5 that I've capped at 3. I look forward to reading more by this author.
I listened to the audiobook ably narrated by Stephen Armstrong. This version was published 7 July 2016 but unfortunately Audible does not give the publication details so it isn't possible to add it to the Goodreads catalogue.
This book is rather like a newspaper with several strands of investigations some of greater significance than others so it keeps the readers' interest. Why is the library holding a book amnesty? Who is Maria? Is there more to the immigrants' car washing business? And in the background is the newspaper office with all the usual office tensions (does anyone else remember the very funny British TV series Drop the Dead Donkey, which was also set in a newspaper office?).
Colin Bateman's style is lively, funny and a pleasure to read. There were nice touches like the film All the President's Men being compulsory viewing for cub reporters (it's about Watergate for those not around at the time).
Although the book ended with an exciting incident the end itself felt abrupt. However this made an amusing holiday read and it's a 3.5 that I've capped at 3. I look forward to reading more by this author.
I listened to the audiobook ably narrated by Stephen Armstrong. This version was published 7 July 2016 but unfortunately Audible does not give the publication details so it isn't possible to add it to the Goodreads catalogue.
September 21, 2018
*** Possible Spoilers ***
I can't say that this is a great book but it's pretty good and worth reading. The plot is pretty simple. A gentleman from a large news organization has been suspended pending an investigation and so is persuaded to take a job editing a small local newspaper that's hemorrhaging money. His job is either to turn it around or kill it. That by itself would be pretty thin but the plot is augmented by the various incidents that he and his reporters investigate and the interesting characters they meet. Some are humorous and some less so. I can't say that I broke into laughter while reading but the story was light and a pleasant way to wile away and evening.
Normally I like my endings nice and tidy but this was an exception. Actually few of the various subplots are resolved but I didn't find that as frustrating as in some novels. One gets the impression that life will somehow continue despite whatever the various characters do. Give it a shot. The author is pretty good at pacing, the dialog is well done and there was never a time I felt I had to walk away in frustration. I doubt it will ever win any literary awards but these days that may be more of a plus than a minus.
I can't say that this is a great book but it's pretty good and worth reading. The plot is pretty simple. A gentleman from a large news organization has been suspended pending an investigation and so is persuaded to take a job editing a small local newspaper that's hemorrhaging money. His job is either to turn it around or kill it. That by itself would be pretty thin but the plot is augmented by the various incidents that he and his reporters investigate and the interesting characters they meet. Some are humorous and some less so. I can't say that I broke into laughter while reading but the story was light and a pleasant way to wile away and evening.
Normally I like my endings nice and tidy but this was an exception. Actually few of the various subplots are resolved but I didn't find that as frustrating as in some novels. One gets the impression that life will somehow continue despite whatever the various characters do. Give it a shot. The author is pretty good at pacing, the dialog is well done and there was never a time I felt I had to walk away in frustration. I doubt it will ever win any literary awards but these days that may be more of a plus than a minus.
January 12, 2018
The plot had a lot of promise - set in a newspaper office in a small town with plenty of material - but it failed to deliver. The writing was not engaging and many characters were underdeveloped. The dialogue was stilted and a lot of the book seemed to focus on the potential office romance between the editor and a reporter, which was very badly written. Each chapter focussed on a new headline story, resulting in a fast paced explanation of the circumstances but failing to examine the aftermath of stories. The ending was particularly awful with a sense of build up but no real conclusion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2020
Irritating errors
Overall not a bad read, engaging likeable characters and some genuinely funny moments, but it jumps around from one story to another without any real development. A few schoolboy language errors as well: if you colour your hair it's dyed, not died; it's font of all knowledge, not fount, and for the love of God there are more dog breeds than Jack Russell! Passed some time in lockdown but wouldn't be in any rush to read any more by this author.
Overall not a bad read, engaging likeable characters and some genuinely funny moments, but it jumps around from one story to another without any real development. A few schoolboy language errors as well: if you colour your hair it's dyed, not died; it's font of all knowledge, not fount, and for the love of God there are more dog breeds than Jack Russell! Passed some time in lockdown but wouldn't be in any rush to read any more by this author.
November 2, 2017
First I thought I would give this one 3 stars because of the lack of overarching story.
But then I realized, that Colin Bateman again made me love those characters so much, they feel like familiy! So it deserves at least 4 stars.
But then I realized, that Colin Bateman again made me love those characters so much, they feel like familiy! So it deserves at least 4 stars.
March 22, 2018
Hits the mark again.
Like all Collin Bateman's books leaves you wanting more and the story to continue. Still waiting for the next story from this great writer.
Like all Collin Bateman's books leaves you wanting more and the story to continue. Still waiting for the next story from this great writer.
September 9, 2021
Enjoyable and humorous but the ending!! What the hell. Recommended to the normal crew.
October 30, 2020
Bangor is a real place. And this book about a family owned local rag that goes through a much needed boot up the arse (delivered via a suspended from Big City/Big Paper reporter on a forced sabbatical) makes for compelling reading albeit woven from seemingly ordinary strands ... a local goon's kid caught stealing, an old activist dying alone who's been ripped off her cheques for years, and a seemingly exploitative (of immigrant browns/children) carwash. The character portraits are so expertly etched that you could dip into any story at random and still walk away with a clear cut sense of each person and how they relate to one another. The stories also fit together to give you a sense of a place at a particular time but in a very non sentimental way but there's something very universal in that anybody could relate to this if they had ever lived in a town that was not big enough to be an anonymous entity and not small enough to run into familiar faces other than rare occasions.
There's a little bit of that brit serial The Office about it ... you kind of cringe at the boss who though is an expert manipulator who in turn has been ripped off for years by one of his managers, who in turn is seen through by the new editor who however knows enough about the world to live and let live, but is charmingly self conscious about falling in love with a reporter despite their increasing interest in each other, the cynical old hand who knows everybody and can turn salacious gossip into currency, and two callow youths, one of them coopted due to his talent for photography and the other apprenticing for longer than needed ... none of them being paid worth a damn so it's mostly hard to see what keeps them together other than their odd sense of fitting together despite the obvious lack of camaraderie. It's this more than the expert telling of the stories that keeps you intrigued and at the end you recognize both the story telling skills and the depth of experiential knowledge of small town papers and the people who work there that will make you remember the stories, the struggles and them with affection afterwards. Reminded me more than a bit of the other great master of small town storytelling Stuart McLean he of the inimitable Vinyl Cafe tomes.
There's a little bit of that brit serial The Office about it ... you kind of cringe at the boss who though is an expert manipulator who in turn has been ripped off for years by one of his managers, who in turn is seen through by the new editor who however knows enough about the world to live and let live, but is charmingly self conscious about falling in love with a reporter despite their increasing interest in each other, the cynical old hand who knows everybody and can turn salacious gossip into currency, and two callow youths, one of them coopted due to his talent for photography and the other apprenticing for longer than needed ... none of them being paid worth a damn so it's mostly hard to see what keeps them together other than their odd sense of fitting together despite the obvious lack of camaraderie. It's this more than the expert telling of the stories that keeps you intrigued and at the end you recognize both the story telling skills and the depth of experiential knowledge of small town papers and the people who work there that will make you remember the stories, the struggles and them with affection afterwards. Reminded me more than a bit of the other great master of small town storytelling Stuart McLean he of the inimitable Vinyl Cafe tomes.
May 9, 2018
I have the sense that Papercuts is a novel Colin Bateman wrote as a gift to himself, a reward for churning out so many other fine reading entertainments. It seems he has gone back to his own roots good and proper with this one about a local newspaper in Bangor, County Down.
It's a great setting and I could see this running but like many first in a series (if such it turns out to be) it's not the best one, wavering sometimes on the verge of OK, with a laugh out loud quotient of only one which is well down on some of his others. There are some fine and daft bits such as the truth behind the car wash (hmmm...) and Janine the paper's dodgy advertising manager at an AA meeting. Plus some heartrending tales for our time with what happens to a netball player and the team's crackpot attempts to rescue two Eastern European sex workers. As for the ending...
It's a great setting and I could see this running but like many first in a series (if such it turns out to be) it's not the best one, wavering sometimes on the verge of OK, with a laugh out loud quotient of only one which is well down on some of his others. There are some fine and daft bits such as the truth behind the car wash (hmmm...) and Janine the paper's dodgy advertising manager at an AA meeting. Plus some heartrending tales for our time with what happens to a netball player and the team's crackpot attempts to rescue two Eastern European sex workers. As for the ending...
January 20, 2020
I have read previous books by this author which I have really enjoyed, but this one is not up to scratch. I enjoyed the characters and witty repartee, but there was no real plot. The story consisted of a number of complete episodes, like short stories, and then right at the end, the tension amped up with an exciting incident, followed by a very unsatisfactory ending that left everything up in the air. I don't mind ambiguous endings, but I do at least like some resolution - this just stopped, very abruptly.
After writing this review, I discovered that the book was in fact a series of short stories, which the author tied together to make a novel. Not well enough, in my opinion.
After writing this review, I discovered that the book was in fact a series of short stories, which the author tied together to make a novel. Not well enough, in my opinion.
April 9, 2020
Comical newspaper-set multi-stranded story.
Amusing enough as I listened, it's one that won't really stick with me. Took a while to concentrate on the several characters as well, but that's the perennial problem with audiobooks.
At a failing newspaper, the Bangor Express, the owner brings in a professional journalist to see if he can find ways to improve things, even if it means cutting jobs.
We get to know several people who work at the paper, and through them some of their stories and attempts to prop up their livelihoods. It did blend a little for me in the middle as I tried to keep characters and stories separate.
Some interesting people, some intriguing stories. I've enjoyed other Bateman books more though, and I would say that this particular story would work better on paper.
Amusing enough as I listened, it's one that won't really stick with me. Took a while to concentrate on the several characters as well, but that's the perennial problem with audiobooks.
At a failing newspaper, the Bangor Express, the owner brings in a professional journalist to see if he can find ways to improve things, even if it means cutting jobs.
We get to know several people who work at the paper, and through them some of their stories and attempts to prop up their livelihoods. It did blend a little for me in the middle as I tried to keep characters and stories separate.
Some interesting people, some intriguing stories. I've enjoyed other Bateman books more though, and I would say that this particular story would work better on paper.
March 14, 2022
A very fun read. I enjoyed the humorous tales of the journalists reporting for a small-town newspaper, tales that were often laugh-out-loud funny, and I enjoyed the developing relationships between the characters.
There didn’t, however, seem to be any lasting consequences for the characters’ actions. Through the course of the story, they anger a range of the small town’s unscrupulous characters – gangsters, pimps, farmers with shotguns, the church, dodgy building developers – but once their story has been printed, there’s never any blowback.
That aside, I really enjoyed the book.
There didn’t, however, seem to be any lasting consequences for the characters’ actions. Through the course of the story, they anger a range of the small town’s unscrupulous characters – gangsters, pimps, farmers with shotguns, the church, dodgy building developers – but once their story has been printed, there’s never any blowback.
That aside, I really enjoyed the book.
January 25, 2019
It seems ages since I gave any of my reading matter 4 stars! This was fabulous. Not read any Colin Bateman before, so had no idea what to expect, but loved the dry humour, the wit, the storyline and the characters. Some brilliant repartee throughout with the sort of banter you hope to remember for the future, but of course I won't! I will be looking for more to read by this very entertaining author.
September 28, 2020
Pretty good output. I think the book was written like mini instruments that you could buy separately, kind of like they did with Green Mile back in the day. It was decent did sure and I wouldn't kind reading more from these characters, buy with a full book so it could so flow together a bit better. It seems like a more freezing, buy I think it's a fair rating
May 18, 2021
quite different from a normal bateman which introduces a central conflict on page 1 that will permeate the entire story and sees it through all the way to the end. this is very much just about the ins and outs of small newsroom culminating in the 'story of a lifetime' that begins in the last 15% of the book. not sure which approach i like more.
June 17, 2023
Took a long time to get started and almost DNF. But when I realised I had a set of short stories in my hands rather than a continuous narrative something clicked. I became more comfortable with the text and enjoyed the tales.
Why hasn’t this been picked up by the BBC? Would make for a great series.
Why hasn’t this been picked up by the BBC? Would make for a great series.
January 9, 2024
Reading that it was originally a series of short stories makes a lot more sense.
Could've done without the middle-aged editor being inexplicably alluring to the hot blonde (and younger) reporter, and the rivalry between her and editor's estranged wife.
Enjoyed the Norn Irn aspect though. That was vivid.
Could've done without the middle-aged editor being inexplicably alluring to the hot blonde (and younger) reporter, and the rivalry between her and editor's estranged wife.
Enjoyed the Norn Irn aspect though. That was vivid.
September 1, 2024
Can male writers please stop with female characters calling other women ‘fat’ as a way of not liking them? It’s over, it’s done, it’s not clever and shows you actually have no deep understanding of the female psyche. Alix is an intelligent woman — you discredit her by making her attack Rebecca’s ‘thunder thighs’.
November 15, 2019
I’ve always enjoyed Colin Bateman’s novels, have read so many of them over many years, really enjoyed this one, some great characters, witty dialogue and dark humour. I really hope there’ll be another novel featuring this setting and these folk.
November 14, 2021
A quirky love letter to local papers is how I described this to my hubby. Just an easy, funny story about a small local newspaper and its team. The abrupt ending caught me off-guard and left some things hanging, and it was almost like the chapter was from a different book.
November 24, 2022
Listed to this on audio. Felt it was a bit of a slow burner and I had to keep replaying it to catch the story. It did progress on to good work but then ended quite abruptly with various story lines just left and not finished.
September 1, 2024
It’s a good book, it’s just disappointing that the editing wasn’t tighter as it did take away the immersion. Caffè Nero being misspelled, ‘Anna’ and ‘Anya’ being used interchangeably for the same character, and the annoying frequency of the term ‘cub reporter’.
November 25, 2016
Cracking as usual
Colin Bateman is just brilliant. A real page turner, funny, well written. I couldn't get aback to it quickly enough. Thoroughly recommended
Colin Bateman is just brilliant. A real page turner, funny, well written. I couldn't get aback to it quickly enough. Thoroughly recommended
July 11, 2017
Aaah! Brilliant :)
July 29, 2017
If this is your first Bateman book then you will probably enjoy it, but I can only give it 3 stars because it lacks the style and wit of all of the other books of his that I have read.
September 22, 2017
As always brilliant. Very underrated author
May 10, 2020
dreary tale and unrealistic. I am a Bateman fan, a journalist and went to school in Bangor but did not enjoy this book.
March 31, 2021
Feels like it should be a channel 4 miniseries.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews