The Stalker cover art

The Stalker

A Novel

Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £13.12

Buy Now for £13.12

About this listen

Robert Doughten Savile, aka "Doughty," is the son of a once-wealthy, now hard-up family from Darien, Connecticut. Doughty lives in a perpetual cloud of delusion, convinced of his own genius and status. While he has little capacity to accurately assess his own abilities or prospects, he cruises through life on the sheer force of his own sense of entitlement, dropping out of college and landing in the early '90s in New York City, a place brimming with both prosperity and desperation.

He cons his way from a bed at the YMCA into the posh Soho loft of a middle-aged book editor, while pursuing a young bartender, whom he also abuses and gaslights. He spins elaborate tales about his imaginary high-power job in real estate while, in reality, he passes his days watching comedy specials on VHS, smoking crack in Tompkins Square Park, and engaging in occasional sex work in the restrooms of Grand Central Station. His many failures, however, only serve to sharpen his one true gift: Doughty is a skilled predator, and the damage he inflicts on the women around him is real and remorseless. As shocking as it is illuminating, The Stalker confirms Paula Bomer as a contemporary master of the pitch-black comic novel.

©2025 Paula Bomer (P)2025 Highbridge Audio
City Life Crime Fiction Dark Humour Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Urban
All stars
Most relevant
I was sceptic but ended up really liking this book. The story is told from the perspective of a deeply sick individual and it has a few dark and twisted scenen but also some dark comedy: not ment to be. The main character is even more delusional, if possible, than Patrik Bateman. It’s well written and 7 ish hours of run time went by fast. Glad I went for it.

Time in the head of a sociopath

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.