The Obsession

The Obsession (2016) is a romantic suspense novel by American author Nora Roberts. A #1 New York Times bestseller, the novel tells the story of Naomi Carson, a woman who has spent her life running from the fact that her father is a notorious serial killer. When she finally attempts to settle down and build a new life, her past returns in the form of a stalker who is emulating her father’s crimes. The novel is a characteristic work from Roberts, one of the world’s most prolific and best-selling authors of romance and suspense.

The Obsession explores themes of Redefining Identity in the Shadow of Infamy, The Risk and Necessity of Vulnerability, and The Invasion of Privacy and the Spectacle of Trauma. The story draws on the modern cultural fascination with true crime and its impact on the families of perpetrators, framing a thriller plot within the development of a central romance. The book was also adapted into a television movie in 2022.

This guide refers to the 2016 Berkley e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, death, death by suicide, mental illness, rape, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual content, substance use, and cursing.

Plot Summary

In August 1998, 11-year-old Naomi Bowes wakes in the middle of the night in her rural West Virginia home and notices the beam of a flashlight outside. Curious, she secretly follows her father, Thomas David Bowes, as he goes into the woods behind their house. She watches as he disappears into a hidden root cellar beneath the ruins of an old cabin. After he leaves, Naomi investigates and discovers a young woman, Ashley McLean, who has been bound, tortured, and left for dead. Naomi frees Ashley and helps her escape, leading her to the local sheriff’s office. Naomi identifies her father as Ashley’s attacker, and the subsequent investigation reveals that Thomas, a respected church deacon, is a serial rapist and murderer. Naomi’s mother, Susan, is shattered by the revelation and initially pressures Naomi to recant her story. In the aftermath of the arrest and the ensuing media frenzy, Naomi; her younger brother, Mason; and Susan are taken in by Susan’s brother, Seth Carson, and his partner, Harry Dobbs. They relocate to Georgetown, Washington, DC, and change their last name to Carson to escape the notoriety.

Over the next few years, the family struggles to build a new life. Susan sinks into a deep depression, secretly maintaining contact with Thomas in prison. Succumbing to his influence, she cooperates with tabloid media and a true-crime author, Simon Vance, which brings relentless public scrutiny and harassment upon the family. To escape the attention, Seth and Harry move the family again, this time to New York City, where they start a restaurant. Despite the fresh start, Susan’s mental health deteriorates. After Vance’s book, Blood in the Ground, is published, Susan visits Thomas, who decides to divorce her for another woman. This leads Susan to die by suicide by overdosing on her medication. Naomi, now 16, goes home early to retrieve her camera bag with Anson Chaffins, a high school classmate and the editor of the school paper. Together, they discover Susan’s body. Seth and Harry become the legal guardians of Naomi and Mason.

Naomi grows up in New York, finding a passion and talent for photography. Her life is disrupted again when a film adaptation of Vance’s book, retitled Daughter of Evil, is released, focusing on her role in her father’s capture and once again thrusting her into the spotlight. Around the same time, Mason reveals to Naomi that he has been secretly researching their father’s case, uncovering the full extent of their mother’s secret contact with Thomas, which included hidden letters and secret bus trips to the prison. When Naomi’s classmate Anson tries to exploit her story for his own journalistic ambitions, Naomi decides to write her own account of her childhood for The New York Times. After college, she embraces a transient lifestyle as a traveling photographer, believing that it is the only way to maintain her privacy and escape her past.

Years later, in 2016, Naomi, now in her late twenties, decides to put down roots and buys a large, dilapidated house on a bluff in Sunrise Cove, Washington. She hires a local contractor, Kevin Banner, to manage the extensive renovations. While settling in, she meets Xander Keaton, a local mechanic and musician, after her vehicle blows a tire. Soon after, she and Xander rescue a starving stray dog, whom she names Tag. As the renovation progresses, Naomi forms close friendships with Kevin; his wife, Jenny; and other locals, slowly becoming part of the community. Despite her reservations about forming attachments, she and Xander begin a romantic relationship.

Naomi’s newfound peace is shattered when a local woman, Marla Roth, is found murdered on the shore below her property. The murder draws unwanted attention to Naomi, as she had a public altercation with a drunken Marla at a local bar shortly before her disappearance. The murder is brutal, and the methods, including binding and strangulation, are eerily similar to Thomas’s crimes. Chief of Police Sam Winston leads the investigation. Soon after, a second woman, Donna Lanier, is abducted. Her body is later found, and it is determined that she was killed in the same manner. Naomi’s brother, Mason, now an FBI agent specializing in behavioral analysis, arrives in Sunrise Cove to assist in the investigation. He discovers that the killer has been stalking Naomi for years, using her publicly posted photographs to select victims and dump sites for the bodies across the country, all while mimicking their father’s methods.

The investigation reveals that the killer has been corresponding with Thomas and traveling the country, killing women who resemble Naomi. Posing as a reporter, the killer attends press briefings in Sunrise Cove to monitor the investigation. As the FBI closes in, he grows bolder. The killer attempts to break into Naomi’s house but is scared off by Tag. Knowing that his time is running out, he accelerates his plan to abduct Naomi.

The killer orchestrates a final confrontation by luring Xander away from the house with a fake roadside assistance call, ambushing and injuring him. He then breaks into Naomi’s house and confronts her. She learns that her stalker and the killer imitating her father’s crimes is Anson Chaffins, the editor of her old school paper. Anson reveals that his obsession began when he witnessed her discovering her mother’s body years ago. As he tries to subdue Naomi, Tag attacks him. To protect the dog, Naomi throws herself in front of him; the bullet goes through her and into the dog. Xander, though wounded, returns in time to violently subdue Anson.

Naomi and Tag both survive their injuries. Anson is arrested and taken into federal custody, where Naomi confronts him, refusing to let him hold any power over her. With the threat eliminated, Naomi’s family, including Seth and Harry, rush to her side. Her new friends in Sunrise Cove embrace her without judgment. The novel concludes with Naomi and Xander affirming their love. He moves into the house on the bluff, and they plan to marry, ready to build a future together founded on the strength and community that Naomi has finally allowed herself to find.