Obsession by Harleigh Beck
Obsession is a book which focuses on Robbie, an inmate on death row convicted of killing multiple women and Savannah, a journalist who Robbie requested to interview him before he is given the lethal injection. Savannah is drawn to Robbie despite his being a notorious killer and being the same age as her dad. Robbie is likewise drawn to Savannah and will stop at nothing to have her. This is a dark thriller romance which contains graphic sexual scenes and graphic violence, check the trigger warnings.
Rule number one: Don’t fall for the sob story.
I have a handful of Harleigh Beck books at this point, and funnily, this was the first book I purchased of Harleigh’s on my Kindle, but I didn’t get round to reading it, and I ended up reading a handful of others by her instead. The longer it sat on my TBR, the more scared I got to read it, and I have no idea why.
I haven’t read a bad book by Harleigh, so I knew it would be good. Harleigh has a way of writing that is immersive and easy to follow without it being simplistic. She is such a joy to read, so much so I am making it my mission to work through reading all of her books. She is also a lovely person, I was fortunate enough to meet her at Shrewsbury Prison at the Authors Behind Bars event and she was so sweet. I look forward to meeting her again in October.
Rule number three: Never turn your back on a killer.
I started this book straight after I finished the consumed trilogy, so I couldn’t read much before my eyes were telling me to take my behind to bed. I picked it straight back up the next day and read a good 70% before again my eyes failed me (how dare they!) Don’t worry, I picked it straight back up the following day and devoured the rest of it. I loved it as I knew I would. There was action, twists and turns, lots of feels and craziness. Robbie’s story is tragically sad and makes you want to protect him. He is another MMC who had a terrible mother, a woman who had no right to call herself his Mum! Does that excuse him from being a murderer? No, of course not, he still knew what he was doing was wrong, and he admits that. He says he is a monster and not to trust him, but he never knew love, and he still deserves love. If he had someone to love him while he was growing up, maybe he wouldn’t have snapped and lost his humanity, because essentially the way I see it is his mum abused him and made him do things to the point of him losing his grip on humanity and sanity. When you treat a human worse than an animal, you can’t be surprised when they turn into one.
Rule number four: Trust your gut.
Likewise, Savannah’s story is also traumatic, and you can see why the two of them gravitate to one another. There was a twist near the end that I never in my dreams saw coming, and I love that Harleigh keeps me on my toes while reading. It has a HEA, which you should know by now that I need! So I was happy with that, and I think it’s another book that I will think about from time to time.
