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Bad Day
Have you ever had a day that, no matter what you do, nothing seems to turn out right? In fact, a bad day would be an understatement?
Angela works at a consulting firm in a high rise building downtown. Frank, a construction worker, is working on the top floor of the same building, and is deathly afraid of heights. Angie and Frank are strangers, who, under a different set of circumstances, would never speak to each other. When the fire alarm goes off, and the elevator they’re in gets stuck, their day takes a different turn.
Sam is Frank’s friend and boss, and he has to make his way down the sixty flights of stairs when the fire alarm goes off. With an old sports injury, he’s not sure he’s going to be able to make it. He has no way of knowing where Frank is, and since he left his cell phone in his truck, he can’t even call his wife Joanne to let her know that he’s ok. Worry plagues Joanne when she can’t get a hold of Sam.
When Joanne finds out that the high rise building has had a bomb threat called in to it, she freaks out with worry. Her life is Sam, and she has to find him. When the police check their list to see if he exited the building, his name isn’t there.
Could their day get any worse?
Angela works at a consulting firm in a high rise building downtown. Frank, a construction worker, is working on the top floor of the same building, and is deathly afraid of heights. Angie and Frank are strangers, who, under a different set of circumstances, would never speak to each other. When the fire alarm goes off, and the elevator they’re in gets stuck, their day takes a different turn.
Sam is Frank’s friend and boss, and he has to make his way down the sixty flights of stairs when the fire alarm goes off. With an old sports injury, he’s not sure he’s going to be able to make it. He has no way of knowing where Frank is, and since he left his cell phone in his truck, he can’t even call his wife Joanne to let her know that he’s ok. Worry plagues Joanne when she can’t get a hold of Sam.
When Joanne finds out that the high rise building has had a bomb threat called in to it, she freaks out with worry. Her life is Sam, and she has to find him. When the police check their list to see if he exited the building, his name isn’t there.
Could their day get any worse?
- GenresRomanceContemporaryHumor
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 2012
6 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 10, 2013
Gotta love it! A group of people all having a Murphy's Law Day, are trapped and forgotten in a building clumsily evacuated because of the mismanaging of a bomb scare. I couldn't help but identify with the heroine--everything in her life sliding straight down to Hell on a rail except for the elevator and only because it is stuck between floors. And the Mr. Macho next to you, who would be the hero in any other book, is paralyzed by phobias, and it isn't like you are the kind of warm fuzzy Little Ms. Compassion who's inclined to hold anybody's hand under the best of circumstances. The author tells the story in the first person from ALL the main character's points of view, so that the reader gets inside everyone's head and heart, by clearly labeling each chapter by the narrator's name, so that it is never confusing. Flashbacks are told in italics, so they aren't ever confused with the here and now either. All in all, I would say it is very well-written and well-developed. My one complaint is that I found the here and now story more interesting than some of the flashes, and they made me impatient to get back to Frank and Angie in the elevator. Is this a 5-star book in the vein of Hamlet or Gone with the Wind? No, but it is a new author's really great first effort, and I certainly had 5-stars worth of fun reading it.
July 19, 2012
After reviewing what this book was about, I couldn't help but pick it up. It was everything the author said it would be. Funny, witty and believable. I have definitely had days like Angie has in this book. Maybe not to the extreme, but close. Absolutely fell in love with Frank. He was adorable and all man, even though he has phobia's.
I would recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a light, fun read. Congrats to the author Devon Cooper and thanks for making me laugh!
I would recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a light, fun read. Congrats to the author Devon Cooper and thanks for making me laugh!
September 14, 2012
Cute book, fast read. A lot of humor. I really enjoyed this book.
May 23, 2012
“You know, it would be nice if just one thing today would go right for me.”
That may be a tall order, given the events that play out in Bad Day, the novel by author Devon Cooper. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong for the characters in the book, which is set primarily in real time, on a single day, in and around an office building. It’s a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The story begins with an unnamed man (in third person, the exception in what’s mostly a first person perspective book) taking an item back inside the night before, a set-up for what’s to come. This is a wise choice to give the character anonymity early on in the action, particularly for the events of the novel.
The day’s action starts by introducing us one by one to the four main characters. Angie is an office worker eager for a promotion, preparing a presentation she hopes will get her on her way. Her day starts off badly right off the start, from sleeping in, seemingly running in circles getting dressed, commute troubles, and ultimately spilling her coffee onto her blouse.
Frank and Sam come next, two construction workers who are busy finishing up work high up in the same building where Angie is working. Frank is single, soft spoken, and we quickly pick up on the fact that he’s a man with anxieties that he tries to keep under control. Sam is older, happily married to Joanne, his high school sweetheart. Sam and Joanne have a good life together, a home and children, and Frank can’t help but be a bit envious. Their day doesn’t get off to quite the right start either; we find that their arrival is at the same time as Angie, who is in the midst of her day from hell. Their work at the top of the building goes awry when Frank has to head back to the garage for something he forgot. This is a problem for Frank, who has problems with heights, and deep-seated fears about closed spaces.
Joanne, the last of the four major characters to be introduced, is a teacher, and we first meet her ourselves after things start going wrong. We know enough about her from the earlier sequences that we already have a good sense of who she is, and as events unfold and she becomes increasingly worried about her husband, we feel sympathy with her.
Frank and Angie end up in the same elevator by chance, and with that, the day from hell really gets underway. The elevator comes to a screeching halt, setting off Frank’s fears and providing a breaking point for Angie’s building frustration. On top of this, a bomb threat is called into the building, prompting an evacuation and the summoning of the police. Frank and Angie, having no idea what’s happening, are trapped, and initially are very much at odds. Frank is frozen by his own fear, while Angie is less then sympathetic towards him, agitated by what she believes is the end of her professional aspirations.
Sam, whose age is starting to catch up with him as old injuries from his days playing football manifest themselves, must make his own lonely descent to ground level by the stairs, worrying that he’ll never see his wife again. And Joanne, upon learning what’s happening, makes her way to the building, frightened at the possibility that her husband’s life is at risk.
The novel succeeds due to a number of critical factors. First and foremost is the characterization. Cooper writes these people with a well-rounded humanity, and gives them depth. Both in the narrative of the one day (and the flashbacks to the past, the only other exception to the single day rule, which really flesh out the character’s histories), she gives us personalities who are flawed yet likeable, well drawn out, with the sort of attention to detail that results in each of them having their own distinct voices. The long relationship and deep bond between Sam and Joanne, whose love is deep seated, contrasts well with Frank and Angie, who start out in this very conflicted place and yet who quickly find an unusual chemistry. The good characterization extends from the major characters even to the minor ones- I particularly liked the way a group of bomb squad police officers were being written.
Another factor that I enjoyed was the pacing of the story, and how that reflected itself in the style of the writing. The narrative flows well, doesn’t seem to drag, which is a very good thing. And writing in the first person suits this author and the story well. Much of the book is written in multiple first person point of view, and there’s never a problem keeping track of whose point of view we’re seeing things.
Something else that I really enjoyed about the book is its sense of humour. Even with the dangerous situation these characters find themselves in, there are those moments of lightness to the book. From the small details like a security guard playing solitaire rather than paying attention to his work (hey, it’s a boring job!) to the black humour Angie really brings across at times, the author succeeds at defusing tension at the most appropriate moments. Cooper doesn’t take things too seriously, which is a very good thing.
At its heart, Bad Day is a character study, which allows for depth and sympathy in its characters. It tells a story of how anything that can go wrong in a given day does go wrong, and then how life goes in an entirely unexpected direction from there. I enjoyed it a lot. You will too.
That may be a tall order, given the events that play out in Bad Day, the novel by author Devon Cooper. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong for the characters in the book, which is set primarily in real time, on a single day, in and around an office building. It’s a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The story begins with an unnamed man (in third person, the exception in what’s mostly a first person perspective book) taking an item back inside the night before, a set-up for what’s to come. This is a wise choice to give the character anonymity early on in the action, particularly for the events of the novel.
The day’s action starts by introducing us one by one to the four main characters. Angie is an office worker eager for a promotion, preparing a presentation she hopes will get her on her way. Her day starts off badly right off the start, from sleeping in, seemingly running in circles getting dressed, commute troubles, and ultimately spilling her coffee onto her blouse.
Frank and Sam come next, two construction workers who are busy finishing up work high up in the same building where Angie is working. Frank is single, soft spoken, and we quickly pick up on the fact that he’s a man with anxieties that he tries to keep under control. Sam is older, happily married to Joanne, his high school sweetheart. Sam and Joanne have a good life together, a home and children, and Frank can’t help but be a bit envious. Their day doesn’t get off to quite the right start either; we find that their arrival is at the same time as Angie, who is in the midst of her day from hell. Their work at the top of the building goes awry when Frank has to head back to the garage for something he forgot. This is a problem for Frank, who has problems with heights, and deep-seated fears about closed spaces.
Joanne, the last of the four major characters to be introduced, is a teacher, and we first meet her ourselves after things start going wrong. We know enough about her from the earlier sequences that we already have a good sense of who she is, and as events unfold and she becomes increasingly worried about her husband, we feel sympathy with her.
Frank and Angie end up in the same elevator by chance, and with that, the day from hell really gets underway. The elevator comes to a screeching halt, setting off Frank’s fears and providing a breaking point for Angie’s building frustration. On top of this, a bomb threat is called into the building, prompting an evacuation and the summoning of the police. Frank and Angie, having no idea what’s happening, are trapped, and initially are very much at odds. Frank is frozen by his own fear, while Angie is less then sympathetic towards him, agitated by what she believes is the end of her professional aspirations.
Sam, whose age is starting to catch up with him as old injuries from his days playing football manifest themselves, must make his own lonely descent to ground level by the stairs, worrying that he’ll never see his wife again. And Joanne, upon learning what’s happening, makes her way to the building, frightened at the possibility that her husband’s life is at risk.
The novel succeeds due to a number of critical factors. First and foremost is the characterization. Cooper writes these people with a well-rounded humanity, and gives them depth. Both in the narrative of the one day (and the flashbacks to the past, the only other exception to the single day rule, which really flesh out the character’s histories), she gives us personalities who are flawed yet likeable, well drawn out, with the sort of attention to detail that results in each of them having their own distinct voices. The long relationship and deep bond between Sam and Joanne, whose love is deep seated, contrasts well with Frank and Angie, who start out in this very conflicted place and yet who quickly find an unusual chemistry. The good characterization extends from the major characters even to the minor ones- I particularly liked the way a group of bomb squad police officers were being written.
Another factor that I enjoyed was the pacing of the story, and how that reflected itself in the style of the writing. The narrative flows well, doesn’t seem to drag, which is a very good thing. And writing in the first person suits this author and the story well. Much of the book is written in multiple first person point of view, and there’s never a problem keeping track of whose point of view we’re seeing things.
Something else that I really enjoyed about the book is its sense of humour. Even with the dangerous situation these characters find themselves in, there are those moments of lightness to the book. From the small details like a security guard playing solitaire rather than paying attention to his work (hey, it’s a boring job!) to the black humour Angie really brings across at times, the author succeeds at defusing tension at the most appropriate moments. Cooper doesn’t take things too seriously, which is a very good thing.
At its heart, Bad Day is a character study, which allows for depth and sympathy in its characters. It tells a story of how anything that can go wrong in a given day does go wrong, and then how life goes in an entirely unexpected direction from there. I enjoyed it a lot. You will too.
February 14, 2013
Though the story is romantic and there is comedy (poor Angela! ha ha!)there is more than that going on in Devon Cooper's Bad Day. The story follows several characters on what should be a routine day including Angela, a consultant who is up for a promotion but overslept; Frank, a hunky construction worker who's terrified of elevators and working on the 60th floor; Sam, his boss who forgets his cell phone; Jo, Sam's wife; and even the bomb squad whose day isn't much better - they're one robot short. Of course, they should be okay...
Should be. But luck isn't on any of their side, and someone calls in a bomb threat. As they hurry to the building, fate conspires to trap Angela and Frank in the elevator while the buildings fire alarms scream. Suspended between floors, they have no cell signal and only each other. And with no elevators and no phone, Sam is forced to climb down all sixty flights of stairs, if his bad knee will let him.
The story is told through a series of flashbacks and vignettes, with each character alternating chapters and I was happy with the conclusion- everyone ended up right where they needed to be. A fun, character driven read with comedy, romance and tension!
Should be. But luck isn't on any of their side, and someone calls in a bomb threat. As they hurry to the building, fate conspires to trap Angela and Frank in the elevator while the buildings fire alarms scream. Suspended between floors, they have no cell signal and only each other. And with no elevators and no phone, Sam is forced to climb down all sixty flights of stairs, if his bad knee will let him.
The story is told through a series of flashbacks and vignettes, with each character alternating chapters and I was happy with the conclusion- everyone ended up right where they needed to be. A fun, character driven read with comedy, romance and tension!
April 5, 2013
I honestly don't like to say bad things about books, but I think this author had a very good idea and didn't know what to do with it. I also don't think this book should have "comedy" in its title - it has its funny bits, but there's no way I'd call it anything else besides romance. The premise is great and that's what hurts the most, it seemed the book had everything to be a great funny story. Having every character converging to the same tall building and issuing a bomb threat when they were all stuck in the same place made me want to read it, but I was only left with the good premise. The rest of the book is quite boring and we get to learn a lot (too much!) of each character's best/worst moments in life, but even so I didn't feel they were real. There's a couple of typos and mistakes, as Angie tells Frank twice why she is barefoot and Diana is also called Anna. In the end, this story is like the mountain that gave birth to a mouse.
October 13, 2012
Can a Bad Day be a Blessing?
Every one of us has had a bad day at one time or another where we wished we’d never gotten out of bed. Devon Cooper’s Bad Day amplifies the normal bad day and puts her main characters, Angie and Frank, through a day of Hell.
Nothing went right for Angie since she woke up that morning. And today was supposed to be the big day where her planned out presentation could launch her into a prestigious seat on the Board of her company. However, in her rush to prepare, she had set her alarm for 6 PM rather than 6 AM. So, after oversleeping, she had to rush to get ready, had skipped breakfast, barely got her car started, and spilt coffee on her white shirt while driving. Then, she caught the heel of her shoe in the grate in the parking lot and broke it off, which left her shoeless. Though thinking her life was almost ruined, she still held to the hope of making it to the meeting if she could just catch the elevator. How could anything get worse? Suddenly, she finds herself stuck on an elevator with a stranger as it begins freefalling. The elevator lurches to a stop between two floors. How is this for the start of a day?
Frank was also having a bad day. Frank and his boss Sam were doing construction work on a top floor and Frank, who has a big fear of heights and hates elevators, had to go back to his truck to get a drill he had forgotten there. Frank was in a big hurry, so the guard let him take the regular elevator rather than the service one. Frank is already about to have a panic attack as he grips the railing on the elevator and wishes it would hurry up. Then, Angie, looking disheveled and flustered, joins him. The elevator begins dropping, and Frank’s worst nightmare has manifested.
To add more excitement to the story, Devon throws in a bomb threat that causes the guard to pull the fire alarm. Workers rush out by the stairs and no one knows that Angie and Frank are trapped on the elevator. Sam is also left behind and trying to exit via the stairs with a bad knee that is swelling by the minute as he keeps trying to make it down several flights of stairs. And by sheer bad luck, none of these three characters have their cell phones with them. They had left them in their cars.
How will these two opposing characters, Angie and Frank, who seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot survive this ordeal? What will they discover about themselves and about each other? And will they get out before it is too late?
Devon’s characters have real depth and her dialogue is raw, honest and real to life. Her characters grow as the story progresses. Even her minor characters are spotlighted and given depth.
I enjoyed Bad Day and loved Devon’s characters, particularly Angie and Frank. However, at the beginning I had to get used to the switching between the multiple first person points of views. Once I got into the story, I couldn’t put it down.
I highly recommend Bad Day. Having a bad day could be a blessing in disguise. Sometimes bad things happen for a reason that we may not understand, but the results can be surprising. Angie and Frank end up having the biggest surprise of all.
Every one of us has had a bad day at one time or another where we wished we’d never gotten out of bed. Devon Cooper’s Bad Day amplifies the normal bad day and puts her main characters, Angie and Frank, through a day of Hell.
Nothing went right for Angie since she woke up that morning. And today was supposed to be the big day where her planned out presentation could launch her into a prestigious seat on the Board of her company. However, in her rush to prepare, she had set her alarm for 6 PM rather than 6 AM. So, after oversleeping, she had to rush to get ready, had skipped breakfast, barely got her car started, and spilt coffee on her white shirt while driving. Then, she caught the heel of her shoe in the grate in the parking lot and broke it off, which left her shoeless. Though thinking her life was almost ruined, she still held to the hope of making it to the meeting if she could just catch the elevator. How could anything get worse? Suddenly, she finds herself stuck on an elevator with a stranger as it begins freefalling. The elevator lurches to a stop between two floors. How is this for the start of a day?
Frank was also having a bad day. Frank and his boss Sam were doing construction work on a top floor and Frank, who has a big fear of heights and hates elevators, had to go back to his truck to get a drill he had forgotten there. Frank was in a big hurry, so the guard let him take the regular elevator rather than the service one. Frank is already about to have a panic attack as he grips the railing on the elevator and wishes it would hurry up. Then, Angie, looking disheveled and flustered, joins him. The elevator begins dropping, and Frank’s worst nightmare has manifested.
To add more excitement to the story, Devon throws in a bomb threat that causes the guard to pull the fire alarm. Workers rush out by the stairs and no one knows that Angie and Frank are trapped on the elevator. Sam is also left behind and trying to exit via the stairs with a bad knee that is swelling by the minute as he keeps trying to make it down several flights of stairs. And by sheer bad luck, none of these three characters have their cell phones with them. They had left them in their cars.
How will these two opposing characters, Angie and Frank, who seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot survive this ordeal? What will they discover about themselves and about each other? And will they get out before it is too late?
Devon’s characters have real depth and her dialogue is raw, honest and real to life. Her characters grow as the story progresses. Even her minor characters are spotlighted and given depth.
I enjoyed Bad Day and loved Devon’s characters, particularly Angie and Frank. However, at the beginning I had to get used to the switching between the multiple first person points of views. Once I got into the story, I couldn’t put it down.
I highly recommend Bad Day. Having a bad day could be a blessing in disguise. Sometimes bad things happen for a reason that we may not understand, but the results can be surprising. Angie and Frank end up having the biggest surprise of all.
February 24, 2013
Ever had a bad day, then realize it could be so much worse? As I was reading Devon Cooper's Bad Day, I was constantly reminding myself that the horrible day I was having was gravy compared to the one these people were having. I really enjoyed the concept behind this book. You start out with Angie and follow her through her horrific morning where everything, and I mean everything, seems to be going wrong. With each chapter, you add on a new character and get insight into who they are and what makes them tick. It kind of reminded me of a movie where one event impacts the lives of many and you get to see snippets of each person's day up until that point, which just so happens to be a bomb threat that has been called into the building. You not only find out what these people were doing right before, during, and after the bomb threat, you learn about the many life events that have brought them to where they are, shaping their very beings. I thought this was a very unique approach to a story, as well as the fact that it is written in first person, which you hardly ever see in print.
If you like learning about people and what makes them tick, you will love this book. If you are having a bad day, perhaps this is the book for you. I definitely enjoyed this book.
If you like learning about people and what makes them tick, you will love this book. If you are having a bad day, perhaps this is the book for you. I definitely enjoyed this book.
September 26, 2013
Bad Day, by Devon Cooper, had a unique and simple premise. It’s basically about a young woman named Angela who is having an incredibly bad day. She is going for a big promotion at work, but right off the bat, her day totally sucks, with her being late to work, spilling coffee on her clothes, etc. Then, she gets stuck in an elevator with a construction worker, Frank, who is also having a crappy day. The story is told from several points of view from different characters. The plot is mainly centered around Angela and Frank as they are stuck in the elevator and how they begin to learn more about one another and possibly fall for each other. As I said, the story was very simple but cute and was told from multiple narrators including Angela, Frank, their friends, coworkers, and other people who are involved in the situation. Unfortunately, the story got to be just a bit boring for me, and while the writing was not great, it did show promise. I liked the idea, but the story could have used a bit more action and some better editing. I would read more work from this author though.
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February 25, 2016kindle -185 pages - chick lit
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October 17, 2012Amazon Freebie 10/17/2012
February 8, 2016
Clever idea but didn't work for me as with all the health and safety procedures these days would mean they would have realised people love were still inside
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews