Cover Image: Best Day Ever

Best Day Ever

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Member Reviews

Paul Randolph Strom must be one of the most twisted obnoxious characters I have ever read about! He talks directly to us the readers and pulls us into his delusional world.
Paul has been steadily poisoning his wife and this weekend he is finally going to end her life so he can look after their two children and their rather large trust fund.
However, will Paul remain in charge or will his wife mia finally see through his facade?
Although lacking in suspense at times, I really enjoyed the insight into Paul's mind and the names he made up for his adversaries. There may be better thrillers on the bookshelves but Paul is not featured in them.

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Full marks to the author Kaira Rouda for her creation of Paul Strom, a narrator like few others. He was such a jerk and I did chide myself for reacting so extremely to a fictional character but just the thought of his 'rectangle grin' and 'signature wink' gives me the creeps. I was pretty sure and definitely hoping that he would get his comeuppance and I had to finish the book to find out.

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A brilliant, deeeply disturbing look into a truly twisted mind.

Paul is taking his wife Mia away for a weekend - he is determined to create the 'best day ever' however things dont quite go to plan....

Its hard to say much about this book without giving away any spoilers. However its safe to say that Rouda has created a truly evil character.

I would strongly reccommend this book!

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What an unlikeable character Paul Strom is! He believes himself superior to everyone else and thinks he has planned the perfect murder. Will he get away with it? I do not want to give the plot away but highly recommend this book. An uncomfortable but riveting read; I could not put this down.

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WOW... What a fantastic book!
Full of suspense,gripping me at every opportunity. This was my first book by Kaira Rouda and it was excellent. Extremely satisfied after reading this fast paced exciting Mystery, Thriller. Loved getting Into the mind of Paul even though he is a Psychopath.
I would highly recommend this 5 stars book. A favourite read!

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A well written and thought out book. I like the way it's written with one of the main characters being the narrator. The story gradually unfolds and we learn more about Paul, his behaviour and his past. Clever twist to turn things on their head.

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Really loved this , Read it all on a rainy afternoon with my feet up . This was such an entertaining read , amazingly the main part of the story takes place over just one day as we join Paul and his wife Mia on their way to their weekend cottage . We know that Paul has plans for Mia and how this all unfurls kept me furiously turning the pages . He is such a self obsessed narcissist and really easy to hate , I was rooting for Mia pretty much from the first couple of pages .Absolutely brilliant ...... Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

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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.
I disliked Paul so much that I nearly gave up on the book but I did continue & I’m glad I did as it became absorbing & gripping. It was a book I felt uncomfortable reading & the more that was revealed about Paul the more I disliked him. My overriding thought was why on earth has Mia stayed with him for over ten years & in fact why did she marry him in the first place. The story is told from Paul’s point of view & he sees himself as an upstanding, hardworking, successful charming man, oh my skin is crawling just thinking about him.
I can’t say it was an easy read but it became an absorbing, compelling read that I couldn’t put down in the end until I found out what happened in the final hours of the Best Day Ever.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
Wow, I have met some horrors in my books but Paul Strom is the ultimate psycopath! The book charts a day in the life of Paul and his wife Mia, who are travelling to their beach cottage for a long weekend away together. Paul has planned the 'Best Day Ever' and most of the time I spent my time shouting at Mia to stop being so naive and compliant! This is domestic noir at its blackest.
However, I quickly guessed what was going on and perhaps that is because I read so many of these psychological thrillers. One or two wee twists right enough that I didn't see coming and this was definitely a gripping read.

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This book is entirely dictated by the evil perpetrator until the one year later epilogue and it is entirely compelling. The main character starts by appearing to be nothing more than a cocky,self-obsessed salesman but as the tale unfolds, more and more information about his character and his past is fed into the mix. The reader keeps wondering 'what next?'. It is very well written with credible characters.

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I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't the suspense or thriller that I was expecting, nonetheless,it was a story that kept my attention as it unfolded. The book is written to cover one day, a concept I think works well. The characters are all well developed, especially the charismatic husband!

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Oh boy, did this book sucker punch me?

For a while I wasn’t sure I was going to like Best Day Ever. It took sooo long to get started and go anywhere and I was starting to get bored them –BAM!

I thought I knew what this book was going to be, bored husband decides to bump off rich wife and solve his money troubles.

I was wrong. Bumping off his wife was Paul’s idea but the book ends up going somewhere else altogether. There are many twists I never saw coming.

Best Day Ever is a cracking thriller, a fantastic example of unreliable narration and very original.

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I read this book really quickly,it was the sort of book that I didn't want to put down. The main character Paul Strom who was also the narrator was everything that you would dislike in a person, arrogant, deceitful never spoke an honest word if a lie would do, and a thoroughly bad guy, and that really piqued my interest.Normally I don't really get it when authors write really bad, nasty characters if I don't like them it affects my enjoyment of the book, some thing I think I should adjust my thinking on some times, but I didn't have to adjust my thinking with this character he was like a pantomime villain and I disliked him intensely but also was fascinated by him and really enjoyed having a really bad guy as the main character. Of course I wanted his poor long suffering wife Mia to put him in his place some how, but he always seemed to have the upper hand.I am not going to give the game away by saying any more just that it was really tense and kept me page turning as fast as I could and I had no idea what was going to happen and it was a thrilling read right to the end.thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review.

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Firstly had I realised that this book is set in the US I wouldn't have requested it due to a personal preference for British novels.
Paul, the main character is horrible in every way; a manipulative, misogynistic, sociopathic scumbag and reading his narrative while being a clever means of writing was not a pleasant experience. Nonetheless an intriguing, different read.

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Wow this book is a work of brilliance. The storyline was great. It was a bit hard to get into at first, but with perseverance I read on, glad of course that I did. It's a gripping well written book. A bit confusing at times but it worked well with the main character been a bit of a psychopath. Quite predictable at times but well worth the read. I would recommend this book to everyone. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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I found the story to be quite unusual in the way it is told but I soon fell under it's spell and was enthralled as a fly trapped in a spider's web whilst the spider stalked its prey..

An extremely entertaining and satisfying read.

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A couple drive to their holiday home by the lakes for the weekend. The husband is sure that they will have an excellent time as long as his wife behaves herself and does as she's told. This book was sinister and creepy from the first page and kept me gripped until the last page. I could not put it down. I would like to thank NetGally and the publisher for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Sadly this isn't working for me, very much struggling with the male protagonist, but likely a case of it's me, not you.

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This is a brilliant thriller. The tension is kept up throughout. We get to know Paul, the narrator, gradually, with more and more of his back story being revealed. The psychology behind the characters of him and Mia, his wife, is truely skilful. I absolutely loved it, and read it in just two days. Highly recommended!

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Wow. What an fantastic read. My heart was in my mouth the whole time learning about Paul. The seemingly handsome, rich, successful businessman with a beautiful wife, children and home yet we know early on that it's a mask. I read this over 2 days, really couldn't put it down.

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