The riveting new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Liar.
“She stood in the deep, dark woods, breath shallow and cold prickling over her skin despite the hot, heavy air. She took a step back, then two, as the urge to run fell over her.”
Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. No matter how close she gets to happiness, she can’t outrun the sins of Thomas David Bowes.
Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, a rambling old house in need of repair, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known. Naomi wants to embrace the solitude, but the kindly residents of Sunrise Cove keep forcing her to open up—especially the determined Xander Keaton.
Naomi can feel her defenses failing, and knows that the connection her new life offers is something she’s always secretly craved. But the sins of her father can become an obsession, and, as she’s learned time and again, her past is never more than a nightmare away.
KEEP READING FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE BOOK
AND TO READ LORNA’S REVIEW!
The Obsession
by Nora Roberts
Series
n/a; standalone
Genre
Adult
Romantic Suspense
Thriller
Publisher
Berkley
Publication Date
April 12, 2016
I bought, The Obsession, to listen to as soon as I read a review by Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Blog giving it 5 stars. I completely agree with the 5 stars after listening. And listening is what I did pretty much non-stop after beginning it, as it was such a good book.
Naomi Bowes was a little girl when she followed her father into the woods late one night. He, of course, had no idea that she was following. When she realizes the horror that her father has wrought , she acts way beyond her age, and saves an injured young woman that is trapped in an underground room. A room that has quite the story to tell. This night shapes the rest of her life, and those of her younger brother, and her submissive mother. Now a successful photographer, at twenty nine she has never settled down until now. She found an old home and decides to renovate. She meets musician/mechanic Xander Keaton. Around the same time, a woman is suddenly missing in the community.
The most fascinating part of the story for me was the whole first part of the book. This starts with her rescue of the young woman and follows Naomi’s life afterwards until she grows up. The aftermath of life for a family of a serial killer pulled me into the story and didn’t let go of me for the rest of the day that I listened to this.That’s not to say that the second half of the book was in no way uninteresting. Not only was this a romance between Naomi and Xander, but it ended up being a suspenseful read. Has her father’s horrific legacy spawned an obsession?
Naomi was a good character. The story could have opened her up to all sorts of too stupid to live moments, but it didn’t and I appreciated that. So refreshing not to blame the main character for all the dramatic moments. Xander was another good character. He is the first man that has ever enticed Naomi to settle down in her life. I enjoyed their romance and all the moments that led them to the romance. There’s plenty of good peripheral characters, as well. A small town is bound to be full of them and Roberts has fleshed out many of these characters as well.
The premise of a little girl catching her serial killer father in a horrendous situation was unique for me as well. It may have been done before, but if so, I am not aware of it. As usual, I am amazed at how prolific of a writer Ms. Roberts is, all the while keeping the premise fresh and not sacrificing the writing in any way. She is truly an amazing story teller and her J.D. Robb books happen to be favorites of mine. If you haven’t tried them, you really should!
The narrator of the story is Shannon McManus and I felt she did an excellent job. I completely forgot at times that a woman was doing the male voices and that is unique for me while listening. If you haven’t tried listening to a book before, it’s actually a wonderful experience, and one you should at least try once. This would be the perfect one to start with, I think.
I highly recommend this book to adult romantic suspense readers.
The review copy of this book was purchased by the reviewer.
About Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including The Liar, The Collector, Whiskey Beach, The Witness, and many more. She is also the author of the bestselling In Death series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.
Author Links
Howdy, Lorna! Found your other blog. 🙂 Oh yes, this does sound good. Would you believe I still haven’t read Nora Roberts? sigh… so many to try.