The Obsession - Review

The Obsession by Nora Roberts

Rating: Very Good
Source: Library

Description:  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.  Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, thousands of miles away from everything she's ever known, Naomi wants to embrace the solitude, but the 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 as she's learned time and again, her past is never more than a nightmare away.  (from Goodreads)

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Why I Picked This Book:  It's Nora Roberts.  Her books are basically auto-buys.  Especially her romantic suspense titles.

My Impression:  Nora Roberts has this ability to just draw me into the world of her stories and make me not want to leave until the end.  It made it super disappointing when her books over the last few years just haven't done that.  I was pleased when last year's stand alone title, The Liar, had that ability but worried that that was a fluke.  If anything The Obsession was even better - like an episode of Criminal Minds but with a love story and really likable side characters.  Roberts' takes us inside the serial killer's lair and in the 2nd half of the book inside his mind.  While it isn't super gorey there are some details that the more squeamish readers might want to avoid.

Naomi is smart and talented and a little skittish with people.  She's always been on the go without dependents and is surprised when she suddenly finds herself with a house, a dog and even more surprising - friends.  I loved the uncles and appreciated the struggle Naomi's mother went through.  You can see that's she's trying but is just so lost.

There are two basic plots in this book.  One centers around Naomi and her trying to adjust to the idea that she's really making a home here in Sunrise Cove.  The second centers around a serial killer who lurks in the shadows.  Both were fascinating and kept me turning pages and they went together well.  I liked the spaces where Naomi is thinking about her house or her family or her dog.  It lightened the book up a bit from the grimmer scarier stuff that was going on in the past and present day.

I'd absolutely love to see a book with Naomi's brother Mason as the main character.  He's absolutely fascinating and I found his and Naomi different methods for dealing with their past interesting and could see both sides. Jenny and Kevin were also great side characters and I found it impossible not to like them and would really love to see some of Jenny's work!  This is definitely a town I'd like to spend time in - minus the serial killer of course.

If you're a fan of romantic suspense this is a good one that has a good mix of both elements.  If you're familiar with Roberts' books I'd say this is similar to The Witness in terms of intensity and level of bad guys.  Overall, this is everything romantic suspense should be - entertaining, page turning, with a lot of suspense but also a lot of heart.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Absolutely!  I can't wait to pick up Bay of Sighs - the latest in her newest trilogy - and I'm really looking forward to her next romantic suspense title.

Would I Recommend this Book?: If you love romantic suspense this is a must read!