Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

Book Review

"I wonder if Mia thinks I have a dark side. Most likely, as far as she knows, I am just her dear loving husband."

Best Day Ever will be released on 7th September 2017. It is written by Kaira Rouda and published by HQ.

I blasted through Best Day Ever, enjoying the irritatingly deranged narrator and slow burning mystery created by Kaira Rouda.

BLURB

Paul Strom has spent years building his perfect life: glittering career, beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in the suburbs.

But he also has his secrets. That’s why Paul has promised his wife a romantic weekend getaway. He proclaims this day, a warm Friday in May, will be the best day ever.

Paul loves his wife, really, he does. But he also wants to get rid of her. And with every hour that passes, Paul ticks off another stage in his elaborately laid plan…

Some reviewers have compared Paul Strom to Patrick Bateman from American Psycho; while Strom is a narcissistic, sexist pig, he's definitely not got as much depth and interest as Bateman. But he is one of those unreliable narrators that you love to hate. It's clear right from the beginning that Strom is not the perfect family man that he appears to be, this is given away in the blurb, but it's interesting watching his persona unravel and his plan reveal itself as the book progresses.

Best Day Ever is set over an almost 24 hour period it is narrated in the first person by Paul Strom in almost real time. I think Rouda gets the right mix of current narrative and Paul's flashbacks, timed at the right moments to reveal a little more about Strom's real inner workings as the book goes along. Some people struggle with first person narration but I enjoyed Best Day Ever and read it very quickly. I can't say I liked Strom, but it was enjoyable to hate him, and it kept me going wanting to find out more about him and hoping he would get his comeuppance.

As a character, Strom is not the most in depth psychopath ever written, he has a fairly classic psychopath back story and character traits, but it's an entertaining journey to go on anyway to see how his mind works and the sort of denial and cunning that's at play.

Best Day Ever is not quite as fast paced as some modern thrillers but I liked this. It started off slowly and picked up pace, keeping me with it all the way. There wasn't a part where I felt bored. I did guess a couple of the twists though, but the story kept me gripped never the less.

I was slightly disappointed in the ending, I wanted it rounded off a bit better, but the open ended style will suit some readers.

My Rating: 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4 for Goodreads etc)

My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of Best Day Ever in exchange for an honest review.

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