REVIEW: The Obsession by Nora Roberts
Dear Nora Roberts,
I look forward every year to your stand alone romantic suspense books. Not all of them work as well for me as others. Last year’s offering, The Liar, was great but it read to me more like a contemporary than a romantic suspense book and the year before that, The Collector did nothing for me at all. But when you’re on, you’re on. My favourites of yours in recent years have been The Search and The Witness. The latter is, objectively, a better book but I admit The Search is my all time favourite Nora. Perhaps it is because of the dogs. I have a weakness.
The Obsession falls squarely in the “win” category for me. It reminded me in some ways of The Search actually – although there’s only one (significant) dog in this book. There are some similarities: both books feature copy cat serial killers and sexual violence (Trigger Warning for same – there is some serial killer POV which may be difficult for some readers), both feature a dog or dogs and both heroes are of the grumpy variety. There is also an artistic similarity; in The Search, the hero was a wood artist and in The Obsession, the heroine is a photographer and the hero sings and plays guitar in a cover band.
They are nonetheless different books. Perhaps what sets Naomi Bowes apart the most from The Search‘s Fiona Bristow (who had escaped from a serial killer’s clutches) is that Naomi’s father was a serial killer. The Obsession begins when 11 year old Naomi wakes one hot summer night in West Virginia and follows her very strict and religious father through the woods. She thinks he’s going to put together her birthday present – a bike, hopefully a red one. What Naomi finds instead is a traumatised girl who has been raped and tortured by Naomi’s father. And she’s clearly not the first.
The story then briefly drops in on Naomi (now Naomi Carson) at various times following that fateful night and we see snapshots (heh, photography joke there. Geddit?) of Naomi growing up and her remaining family relationships. The next stop in the timeline is “present day” when Naomi has, much to her surprise, bought herself a gigantic house in need of significant renovation, in the small town of Sunrise Cove, Washington. (And this is where similarities to another of your books (well, series’) comes in. Like the Inn Boonsboro series, The Obsession features a lot of detail about house renovation. I didn’t find it intrusive and I was happy enough with the pacing, but I suspect some readers will find these sections a little tedious. However, they aren’t as detailed as the Inn Boonsboro series and I thought these scenes gave the story a great sense of place. Also, I like Kristen Ashley books and she is notorious for a lot of detail. I’ve found I don’t mind it in the right book. This was one.
Due to her father’s notoriety, Naomi grew up hiding herself and keeping herself apart from others, the only exceptions being her immediate family. In Sunrise Cove, she finds community and friends – much to her surprise. She also finds a man – Xander Keaton. Xander is the local mechanic. He owns the garage and body shop and has part ownership of the local bar, where his band, The Wreckers, play regularly. He’s blue collar but also an astute businessman. Like Naomi, Xander wasn’t looking for a relationship. But Xander rolls with change a little more easily than Naomi does and so he’s putting the moves on her pretty quick.
“…We start something—and I’m also not looking to start something—and it gets messed up, your friend and my contractor’s in the middle of it.”
“That’s weak,” Xander said, and went back to the pasta.
“Not from where I’m sitting, in the heart of a construction zone. Plus you’re the only local garage and mechanic, and I might need a mechanic.”
Thoughtfully, he crunched into the bread. “Probably get the work done faster if we’re having sex.”
She laughed, shook her head. “Not if we stop having it, and you’re pissed at me. There’s work, of which I have to do a lot to pay for this house, and everything that goes into it. I don’t have time for sex.”
“There’s always time for sex. Next time, I’ll bring pizza and we can have sex in the time you spent making dinner.”
And thoughtfully, Naomi ate pasta. “That doesn’t speak well of your . . . stamina.”
“Just trying to work on your schedule.”
Xander is a little pushy but he never crossed the line into coercive territory. He’s more of the cocky, confident variety. He’s also new to relationships and mostly terrified of a woman’s tears, as well as not being very “hearts and flowers”.
“If you need to yell, I can handle it. If you need to cry, I can handle it. Yelling’s preferred.”
To my delight, neither he nor Naomi are cuddlers in bed. It’s not often I see that in romance and it made me happy.
That’s not at all to say that the romance is lacking. It’s perhaps more that Xander’s romanticism tends to have a practical bent. And this suits Naomi perfectly.
The portion of the book where Naomi is settling into Sunrise Cove and where the romance between she and Xander blossoms has basically no suspense. However, right at the end, a local woman goes missing and when her body is found, there are alarming similarities to the victims of Naomi’s father. And there are other connections to Naomi too. The next part ramps the suspense up to 11. Other women go missing and it becomes clear Naomi is a target as well. I wanted this book to be a meaty romantic suspense read and that’s exactly what I got. In some ways, the “contemporary” section had lulled me into a false sense of security. So the tension, when it began had more impact.
Naomi is clever and capable and she takes sensible precautions, while maintaining her independence. Xander struggles occasionally with some tendencies towards being over-protective (which I found understandable in the circumstances and not offensive) but for the most part he acknowledges Naomi’s skills and abilities and doesn’t attempt to smother her or wrap her in cotton wool. Naomi is an active part of the investigation in ways that made sense and utilise her particular skillset without being ridiculously unlikely.
I also enjoyed the friendships Naomi developed with other Sunrise Cove residents. By the book’s end, I felt that Naomi had not only found love, she’d found a forever home and community. Plus, there’s a great dog. (This cannot be overstated.)
I loved Xander and Naomi together, their snappy dialogue, their chemistry and humour, their own brand of sizzle. The Obsession delivered for me on pretty much all counts.
“You have a sixty-seven GTO convertible, in factory red.”
He stood in reverent silence for ten full seconds. “I think you have to marry me now. You’re the first woman besides Loo who’s seen her and known what she is. I’m pretty sure we’re engaged.”
I still think The Search and The Witness are better books but The Obsession is right up there. It’s a B+ from me and a definite recommend.
Regards,
Kaetrin
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I agree with your review. It’s a good romantic suspense story with interesting characters. While there is a lot of remodeling going on, you’re right, it’s not a how-to-guide like the Boonsboro books were. Also, Tag (the dog) steals the show. He almost became a secondary character. I also liked Mason and hope he gets his own story.
The story was unusual, because the father isn’t really in this book. He effects everything that happens to Naomi & her family, but he’s only on a few pages. There’s more page time about the new killer. Once we’re clued in on whether the villain is local or not, it becomes obvious who that person is. That doesn’t occur right away, however, because as you stated, the suspense portion of the story is left to the final section of the book.
I enjoyed the book, but it’s not one of my favorites. I thought the killer was obvious from the first scene they appeared in because of the one moment (trying not to be spoilery).
I did like the romance and loved the secondary characters like the hero’s BFF and his wife and the heroine’s brother.
I felt it was kind of like reading two books in one: part small town romance bookended by a crime thriller.
And Nora always writes the best pets.
I knew who the new villain was immediately, so there was no suspense in the book for me. In fact I could of done without the suspense part, it was the house stuff that I really loved and of course Tag the dog. I’ve always figured out the villains in La Nora’s suspense novels way too early, which is why I loved The Witness so much, it was different from her other stories. I really liked that Naomi was a kick-ass heroine and basically saves herself.
Thanks for the review!
I haven’t read a Nora in a long time, because, as someone who has been reading her since I was 11/12 years old, they began to feel like boring retreads. I think it was the first in the wedding planner trilogy/quartet that made me give her up. I could pick the hero and heroine from the La Nora Character Assembly Box lol.
It’s been a long enough break, perhaps, and I enjoy most of the books you recommend, Kaetrin, so I shall give this one a go ^_^. I’ve been rereading some of her older work, like Hidden Riches, and really missing her voice.
@Kim: @library addict: @mel burns: I didn’t pick who the villain was until right near the end! I’m terrible at mysteries. *groans*
@Imani: I don’t bother with her trilogies and quartets anymore – they’re too samey for me. But I read her standalone RS books every year. I didn’t like The Collector and I thought Whiskey Beach wasn’t as strong as others but loved The Witness, The Search and this one. Hope they work for you! :)
I haven’t picked it up yet, but I am so glad to hear of the lack of cuddling in bed. My husband and I discuss it every so often and wonder if we’re just weird for not being into cuddling in bed (we will for brief periods of time, but otherwise it’s just hot and your limbs fall asleep and where’s the romance in that?)
I haven’t read this one, but I read another Nora with a serial killer parent and it didn’t work for me. I couldn’t believe that a man who was so deviant would be an acceptable father who didn’t seriously screw up (if not beat and torture) his kids.
I get really annoyed when the killer is hard to pick out because he doesn’t act at all like a serial killer. I read one book where the killer attacked women (implying he had rage and hatred towards women) but was perfectly fine with the heroine turning him down.
@Meg: My hubs and I are like that. I have my sleep space and he has his. If I believed almost every romance novel I’ve ever read (and most romantic movies) I’d think we were unicorns! LOL
@SAO: But don’t they always say “but he seemed so normal?” about serial killers? :D The serial killer dad here was depicted as controlling and verbally/emotionally abusive but the way I read it, the reason he wasn’t physically abusive to his wife and children was because he had an alternative outlet for his violence and psychopathy. It fit for me – especially after he was arrested and he continued to manipulate the wife. Perhaps I’ve watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds but he seemed to me to be sophisticated enough to hide the worst of his abuses from everyone. YMMV of course. :)
@Imani: I had a similar experience reading NR. Too many were retreads, and I also grew disenchanted with the trilogies. I generally have liked her romantic suspense books, and Hidden Riches is one of my all-time favorite romances.
* just finished reading Nora Robert’s latest book-The Obsession. I so enjoy reading her books,and I am an avid fan. I have found that her books as well as those by J D Robb have dealt on the very “dark side” of life and very much miss the attention given to relationships instead of the evil that some human’s harbor.
@Marion: You may prefer her trilogies which are far less suspenseful. The In Death series does have some graphic violence and this book certainly delved into the more dark side of suspense.