The Day Tripper by James Goodhand

The Day Tripper

by James Goodhand

The right guy, the right place, the wrong time.

It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, battered and almost drowning in the Thames.

He wakes the next day to find he’s in a messy, derelict room he’s never seen before, in grimy clothes he doesn’t recognize, with no idea of how he got there. A glimpse in the mirror tells him he’s older—much older—and has been living a hard life, his features ravaged by time and poor decisions. He snatches a newspaper and finds it’s 2010—fifteen years since the fight.

After finally drifting off to sleep, Alex wakes the following morning to find it’s now 2019, another nine years later. But the next day, it’s 1999. Never knowing which day is coming, he begins to piece together what happens in his life after that fateful night by the river.

But what exactly is going on? Why does his life look nothing like he thought it would? What about Cambridge, and Holly? In this page-turning adventure, Alex must navigate his way through the years to learn that small actions have untold impact. And that might be all he needs to save the people he loves and, equally importantly, himself.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

3.5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Day Tripper is an inventive time-slip novel by James Goodhand. Released 19th March 2024 by HarperCollins on their Harlequin Trade/Mira imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in late 1st quarter 2025. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a well written time travel magical realism story with flashes of science fiction, which has accessible prose and a poignant plot. A traumatic injury sees MC Alex, whose life had been in an upward trajectory, slipping in and out of his life with the days completely out of order with no knowledge of what happened, or how he got there. It's an intriguing idea, but gets in its own way fairly often throughout. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes a bit ponderous, and the first few chapters will require a significant good faith effort on the reader's part. It does pay off, eventually.

It's not precisely derivative (not actionably anyhow), but fans of Montimore's Oona Out of Order will find parallels to that one here, as well. There are also some vibes from Haig's The Midnight Library. 

The unabridged audio format has a run time of 11 hours 14 minutes and is capably narrated by James Meunier. He has a classically trained, smooth, well modulated voice and handles the disparate voices of a range of ages and both sexes very well. Sound and production quality is high throughout the read.

Three and a half stars. Well written, undeniably competently so. Some pacing and setup issues in the first 20% of the book, and there's surprisingly little actual effort expended on world building, but the bones of a very good story, well told. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 25 August, 2024: Started reading
  • 25 August, 2024: Finished reading
  • 25 August, 2024: Reviewed