Best Day Ever

by Kaira Rouda

Graydon House    2017

352 pages     Thriller

If you have ever wanted to see into the soul of a narcissistic sociopath, then Best Day Ever is your go-to guide. That is if a narcissistic sociopath has a soul. Paul Strom has none, and his wife Mia is about to pay the price.

Mia is, in the words of Paul, the perfect wife and stay-at-home mother. However, things haven't been going as well as Paul would like, and he has decided to take Mia on a spring weekend to their cottage on Lake Erie. The narrative is told completely in the words of Paul, and we learn that Mia comes from a wealthy family; that his parents died in a tragic carbon monoxide accident; that he has had a successful career in sales; that he is a perfect husband; and that he loves his two sons more than anything. We learn all this as the couple is on the drive to their cottage—a drive you can't wait to get over because you know that something bad is about to happen.

Paul is a ticking time bomb, and the reader is fascinated to watch his carefully created life and vacation scenario unravel before our eyes. Because the narrative is told completely by Paul, we recoil at his commentary and are compelled to read in horror as the events unfold. Some of the plot twists are a bit unbelievable, but it doesn't matter because the reader is so caught up trying to protect Mia that nothing else matters. It turns out that Mia doesn't need protecting too much. 

Frankly, I wanted the plot to twist one more time at the end. The relationship is so rotten, I wanted something more to happen. The sense of foreboding that stalks the reader through the majority of the book ends too abruptly—the comedown happened too fast. Did I want more revenge? Perhaps.

 In a note at the end of Best Day Ever, the author suggests that we are all unreliable to the degree that we "curate" our lives on Facebook and other media, showing our perfect lives, and our perfect children and grandchildren. Rouda suggests that one of the joys of reading domestic suspense novels is that the reader is able to go beyond the facade into the reality behind the "perfect family" screen.

About 100 pages into the book Paul mentions, "When you've got it, you've got it. I'm not bragging, really. I'm just telling you there are some things I'm really good at and this—women—is one of them." I looked up in shock! I know this guy! Although he never plotted murder, the guy I knew was just about as sociopathic as Paul and definitely as narcissistic. I remember listening and watching in horror as my recently-divorced work associate wooed a woman from Ohio that he had met online. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she was on the verge of inheriting a large oil fortune. (OMG, I just realized that she also lived on Lake Erie!) She was also in a very vulnerable spot in her life, and he took advantage of it all. Nearly a year later, everything unraveled, and she came to her senses and kicked him out of her life. He's on his third marriage, fourth or fifth job, but from his Facebook posts as narcissistic as ever. 

Best Day Ever is a delightful diversion; a quick read on a hot day. Here is the trailer.

Kaira Rouda's website.