Best Day Ever

Author: Kaira Rouda
Genre: Suspense
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Graydon House
First Published: September 19, 2017
First Line: "I glance at my wife as she climbs into the passenger seat, sunlight bouncing off her shiny blond hair like sparkler's lit for the Fourth of July, and I am bursting with confidence."

Book Description from GoodRead: I glance at my wife as she climbs into the passenger seat, and I am bursting with confidence. Today will be everything I’ve promised her…and more…

Paul Strom has the perfect life: a glittering career as an advertising executive, a beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in a wealthy suburb. And he’s the perfect husband: breadwinner, protector, provider. That’s why he’s planned a romantic weekend for his wife, Mia, at their lake house, just the two of them. And he's promised today will be the best day ever.

But as Paul and Mia drive out of the city and toward the countryside, a spike of tension begins to wedge itself between them and doubts start to arise. How much do they trust each other? And how perfect is their marriage, or any marriage, really? 

Forcing us to ask ourselves just how well we know those who are closest to us, Best Day Ever crackles with dark energy, spinning ever tighter toward its shocking conclusion. In the bestselling, page-turning vein of The Couple Next Door and The Dinner, Kaira Rouda weaves a gripping, tautly suspenseful tale of deception and betrayal dark enough to destroy a marriage…or a life.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Graydon House for providing me with a digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 4 stars

My Review: Best Day Ever is a domestic thriller that takes readers on a wild ride of secrets, betrayal and deceit. Readers witness one full day in the lives of Paul and Mia Strom as they set off on a short holiday that they expect to be the 'best day ever'. As the minutes and hours tick by, readers are privy to the main character's innermost feelings and motivations and witness their idyllic holiday spin out of control. 

The beginning of the book has a slower pace than I had expected and I'll admit that it took me awhile to feel invested in Paul and Mia's lives. But if readers are patient they'll enjoy the slow building of tension as the author reveals, in wee doses, the cracks in her main character's perfect veneer. 

You never know what goes on behind closed doors and Rouda brings this idea home by giving her readers a chilling, bird's eye view of a dysfunctional and toxic relationship that appears perfect to those who know the Stroms. Best Day Ever is a story of a sociopath who has manipulated people and events to build a perfect life. This character will easily go down as one of the least likable yet compelling characters I can remember reading. You can't help but be mesmerized and a little bit fearful of their narcissism, sense of entitlement and total lack of empathy.
   
The story has a slow build and while some of the plot was predictable to this well-read suspense reader, overall this was a good creepy page turner that readers will have a hard time putting down. It has a memorable evil character and I enjoyed how the simple plot is slowly infused with a sinister feel as Rouda unfolds her story and reveals her characters' true natures to her readers.