The Pursuit of Ordinary by Nigel Jay Cooper

My favourite type of book is a crime or psychological thriller and I read heaps of them. But I am always up for reading something different. And, to be honest, I need to as crime books can be very dark and I need some light occasionally!. Anyway, I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book from the author. It's a love story, with a difference, and I loved it. And I love the simplicity of the cover - it's really impactful.  The Pursuit of Ordinary is released on 27th April.

The Blurb:

After witnessing a fatal car accident, a homeless man wanders the streets of Brighton, trying to ignore the new, incessant voice inside his head. But he cant forget the crash, can't get the face of the woman cradling her dying husband out of his mind. She stared into his eyes, his soul. He has to find her. Is Dan mentally ill or has he really been possessed by the spirit of Natalie's dead husband, Joe? If he hasn't, why does she let him into her home so easily? Does she have secrets of her own? The Pursuit of Ordinary is a twisting tale of modern life and mental health where nothing is what it seems... Following the success of debut novel Beat the Rain, Roundfire introduces the second book from bestselling author Nigel Jay Cooper.

My Review: 

My go to genre is crime and psychological thrillers, but this book looked too good to miss. And it was.

It tells the story of Dan, a homeless man who comes across Natalie at the moment her husband Joe is killed when a car hits him. Dan can't get Natalie out of his mind and goes in search of her, but he is also hearing another voice in his head.

Dan is obviously damaged, which immediately makes him interesting, and Natalie has her own demons. I don't even know where to start with Joe!

The same episodes in the story are told from different perspectives which could easily have led to lazy storytelling, but it doesn't, because there is always something new.

I loved that the story is set in Brighton as it's a place I know. I love that it name checks one of my favourite books (you'll need to read it to see!). And I really love that it sensitively deals with some difficult issues - mental health and emotional abuse.

This is a book about loss, hope, trust and ultimately love. But I doubt it's like any love story you've read - it's highly original, brilliantly written and definitely worth a read.

Available to pre order here:

UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pursuit-Ordinary-Nigel-Jay-Cooper/dp/1785358065/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521586323&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Pursuit+of+Ordinary

US
https://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Ordinary-Nigel-Jay-Cooper/dp/1785358065/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1521586362&sr=8-3&keywords=the+pursuit+of+ordinary