Book Review: Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Bad Blood
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Naturals (Book 4)
Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (November 4, 2016)

Description: In this stunning conclusion to the popular thriller series, Cassie Hobbes finally has answers about her mom as her and the rest of the Naturals faced off with a secret group of deadly killers.

When Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI's Naturals program, she had one goal: uncover the truth about her mother's murder. But now, everything Cassie thought she knew about what happened that night has been called into question. Her mother is alive, and the people holding her captive are more powerful—and dangerous—than anything the Naturals have faced so far. As Cassie and the team work to uncover the secrets of a group that has been killing in secret for generations, they find themselves racing a ticking clock.

New victims. New betrayals. New secrets.

When the bodies begin piling up, it soon becomes apparent that this time, the Naturals aren't just hunting serial killers.

They're being hunted.

My Thoughts: The Naturals was an amazing mystery series with wonderful characters who have abilities that make them useful to the FBI. Dean and Lia are extraordinary profilers. Michael and Lia can read emotions and tell if people are lying. Sloane has a talent for math and for solving puzzles. They all have some sort of emotional trauma in their pasts too. Their FBI mentors use them to solve difficult cases while trying to protect them. Although they are young, seventeen and eighteen mostly, they are not children. 

Cassie was recruited to the program to try to find answers to her mother's death or disappearance when Cassie was 12. The investigation leads the team to a cult of murderers that have been in existence for generations. When they determine that Cassie's mother has been captured by the cult, they are determined to find her and rescue her.

I love the distinct voices that each of the characters have. I love the relationship that is building between them all. The story is full of danger as they follow leads to the mysterious cult. This book makes a wonderful conclusion to the four book series but leaves room if the author wishes to revisit the Naturals.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

Without order, there is chaos.

Without order, there is pain.

Friday 56:

That was what profilers did. We submerged ourselves in the darkness again and again and again.

This week I am spotlighting Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This is the fourth book in The Naturals series. These are YA mystery stories. I read them years ago and am enjoying this reread. Here is the description from Amazon:

In this stunning conclusion to the popular thriller series, Cassie Hobbes finally has answers about her mom as her and the rest of the Naturals faced off with a secret group of deadly killers.

When Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI's Naturals program, she had one goal: uncover the truth about her mother's murder. But now, everything Cassie thought she knew about what happened that night has been called into question. Her mother is alive, and the people holding her captive are more powerful—and dangerous—than anything the Naturals have faced so far. As Cassie and the team work to uncover the secrets of a group that has been killing in secret for generations, they find themselves racing a ticking clock.

New victims. New betrayals. New secrets.

When the bodies begin piling up, it soon becomes apparent that this time, the Naturals aren't just hunting serial killers.

They're being hunted.

ARC Review: Inside Man by John McMahon

Inside Man
Author: John McMahon
Series: Head Cases (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur (January 13, 2026)

Description: In this sequel to McMahon's electrifying series debut, Head Cases, Gardner Camden and the PAR team return to investigate potentially connected cases.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

PAR’s latest case involves a militia group stockpiling weapons. When their confidential informant in the case is killed, it quickly becomes clear that the militia did not kill him.

As the squad looks into the evidence surrounding his murder, an unidentified man is caught on camera with their informant. This mystery man’s picture is connected to another case at the FBI, an unsolved series of murdered women, buried in the ground in north Florida. Could they have uncovered a serial killer? And if so, what is his connection to their C.I.?

As PAR juggles an investigation into both the dead women and the militia, they enroll a new informant, only to find the case escalating in dangerous ways. How will PAR handle a case that increasingly looks like a terrorist plot? And in the serial case, with no puzzles or witnesses, and few leads, how will a group set up to decode riddles be successful?

My Thoughts: INSIDE MAN is the sequel to HEAD CASES. The stories are mysteries. The main characters are part of a special unit of the FBI. Leading the unit is FBI Agent Gardner Camden. Gardner is neurodivergent. He is excellent at facts and puzzles but not so good at deciphering human actions and emotions.

This cast begins when Gardner and his partner stop to check in on one of their confidential informants only to find that he has been murdered. They also find over a million dollars in cash and the debit cards used to withdraw it from area ATMS. They also find an unusual gun and texts on the CI's phone saying his criminal colleagues are only minutes away. 

Leaving with most of the money, after setting the mobile home on fire, Gardner and colleagues have to develop a new CI if they want to solve the mystery of the money and the guns. But then they are called to consult on another case. This time skeletonized bodies are found buried in the area. Through the team's efforts they find nine bodies and a connection to their CI. 

While working on their gun runners and serial killers, Gardner's mother comes out of the coma she's been in since the end of the team's last case pulling Gardner's attention away from his current cases. 

This was an engaging and action-packed thriller with an intriguing cast of characters. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Detour by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart

Detour
Author: Jeff Rake & Rob Hart
Series: Detour (Book 1)
Publication: Random House Worlds (January 13, 2026)

Description: A space shuttle flight crew discovers that the Earth they’ve returned to is not the home they left behind in the first book of this emotional, mind-bending thriller series from the creator of the hit Netflix show Manifest and the bestselling author of The Warehouse.

“If The Martian and The Twilight Zone had a baby, it would be Detour—a thriller that messes with your head as you scramble to piece together what’s really going on.”—Steve Netter, Best Thriller Books

Ryan Crane wasn’t looking for trouble—just a cup of coffee. But when this cop spots a gunman emerging from an unmarked van, he leaps into action and unknowingly saves John Ward, a billionaire with presidential aspirations, from an assassination attempt.

As thanks for Ryan’s quick thinking, Ward offers him the chance of a lifetime: to join a group of lucky civilians chosen to accompany three veteran astronauts on the first manned mission to Saturn’s moon Titan.

A devoted family man, Ryan is reluctant to leave on this two-year expedition, yet with the encouragement of his loving wife—and an exorbitant paycheck guaranteeing lifetime care for their disabled son—he crews up and ventures into a new frontier.

But as the ship is circling Titan, it is rocked by an unexplained series of explosions. The crew works together to get back on course, and they return to Earth as heroes.

When the fanfare dies down, Ryan and his fellow astronauts notice that things are different. Some changes are good, such as lavish upgrades to their homes, but others are more disconcerting. Before the group can connect, mysterious figures start tailing them, and their communications are scrambled.

Separated and suspicious, the crew must uncover the truth and decide how far they’re willing to go to return to their normal lives. Just when their space adventure seemingly ends, it shockingly begins.

My Thoughts: This book has an ensemble cast. John Ward, the richest man in the world and Presidential candidate, is planning a trip to Titan as a possible solution to Earth's climate woes. He is partnered with NASA who is supplying three veteran astronauts. Ward is supplying Stitch who won a lottery to go along, Padma who is the astrophysicist behind the trip to Titan rather than Mars, and Ryan who is a police officer who foiled an assassination attempt on Ward. 

The astronauts include the Mission Commander who happens to be an alcoholic, an experienced Black woman astronaut, and a new young astronaut who is hiding his bisexuality. 

This group of six has only five weeks to jell as a team before they take off for Titan. Their very different personalities are shown as they try to meld into a team. They make it to Titan though they have some problems as they are getting ready to circle to moon and launch the satellite that will send data back to Earth. A couple of explosions wreck their previous excellent communication with Earth, but they do make it home.

Things are odd once they arrive back on Earth. The six are kept separate and the Welcome Home festivities are truncated. They notice that their phones and computers are being tapped. They also notice that the Earth they have returned to isn't the one they left. They are left to find a way to determine what happened to them and to Earth while trying to keep away from now-President Ward and his henchmen. 

Then this episode ends... It has a major cliffhanger of an ending leaving everything unresolved. Our heroes are not all together and those who are together are on the run. 

I became very invested in this story and these characters. I can't wait for the next volume for some resolution. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Bookbinder's secret by A. D. Bell

The Bookbinder's Secret
Author: A. D. Bell
Publication: St. Martin's Press (January 13, 2026)

Description: Every book tells a story. This one tells a secret.

A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder.

Lilian ("Lily") Delaney, apprentice to a master bookbinder in Oxford in 1901, chafes at the confines of her life. She is trapped between the oppressiveness of her father’s failing bookshop and still being an apprentice in a man’s profession. But when she’s given a burned book during a visit to a collector, she finds, hidden beneath the binding, a fifty-year-old letter speaking of love, fortune, and murder.

Lily is pulled into the mystery of the young lovers, a story of forbidden love, and discovers there are more books and more hidden pages telling their story. Lilian becomes obsessed with the story but she is not the only one looking for the remaining books and what began as a diverting intrigue quickly becomes a very dangerous pursuit.

Lily's search leads her from the eccentric booksellers of London to the private libraries of unscrupulous collectors and the dusty archives of society papers, deep into the heart of the mystery. But with sinister forces closing in, willing to do anything for the books, Lilian’s world begins to fall apart and she must decide if uncovering the truth is worth the risk to her own life.

My Thoughts: Lilian Delancy is an apprentice to a bookbinder in Oxford. The year is 1901. When she is given a burned book while picking up some books to be bound at the library of a well-to-do physician, she discovers a mystery that will change her life. 

Lily discovers a letter tucked into the binding of the burned book. The letter hints at mystery and romance and danger. She is intrigued enough to want to look into things further. She discovers the book is one of a set of six by a rather obscure author. Finding a second book leads her to more of the story but it also attracts some dangerous elements who also want to have the books and keep the secrets secret. 

Lily travels all over England and finds herself meeting reclusive and shady book collectors and publishers and authors always being trailed by a man who is willing to do violence to get the books from her. 

I enjoyed the way Lily breaks out of her rather confined life on her quest. I liked that the story is told from Lily's point of view. I liked the action and the mystery in the story. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Lust Crusade by Jo Segura

The Lust Crusade
Author: Jo Segura
Publication: Berkley (January 13, 2026)

Description: A plucky librarian and an archaeologist on the run fake an engagement to save their lives, leading them into the labyrinth of their own desires.

Daniela Guiterrez has been in love with her brother’s best friend for as long as she can remember—until he went missing a year ago during an archaeological expedition. But on a solo trip to Greece, the intrepid librarian discovers that Theo is very much alive, although judging by the criminals holding him hostage, he is not doing well.

An expert in Ancient Greek archaeology, Dr. Theo Galanis has been abducted by artifact smugglers in search of a priceless gemstone—the Eye of the Minotaur. This ridiculous assignment was supposed to get Dani out of his system, not keep her tied up next to him. But when a little white lie spirals into his captors believing Theo and Dani are engaged, they must utilize her research skills and his expertise to solve the centuries’ old Minoan mystery, all while feigning a romance to keep each other alive.

Now with less than six days to find the jewel, underground societies, mythological beings, and pesky abductors are only half the battle. Because among the ancient ruins and temples they explore is an even bigger danger: falling in love for real.

My Thoughts: Dani Guiterrez decides to take a trip to Greece to memorialize her lost friend Theo Galanis who was an archaeologist who disappeared more than a year earlier. Dani has been in love with her brother's best friend Theo for years. Now, she has to find a way to get over him and move on with her life. 

But Theo isn't dead. He's been kidnapped by a man who wants him to discover the missing Eye of the Minotaur. The main problem with this is that the Eye is mythological. Theo did write a story about it which was published in a children's magazine. But the story was based on stories his grandfather told him when he was a child.

When Dani spots Theo and his captors at Knossos, she is determined to rescue him. She ends up captured herself and now the two of them have only six days to recover the eye before something fatal happens. 

Eluding the villains, finding the jewel, and falling in love have a six day deadline.

This is a "best friends to lovers" story that would be solved a couple of hundred pages sooner if the main characters would just talk to each other. Simple misunderstandings have been magnified by time into major misunderstandings. 

Both characters are interesting people with both strengths and flaws. The story complete with over-the-top villains was fast-paced and engaging. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: A Deadly Clue by Victoria Gilbert

A Deadly Clue
Author: Victoria Gilbert
Series: Hunter and Clewe Mysteries (Book 3)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (January 13, 2026)

Description: Hunter and Clewe are back in the third Hunter and Clewe mystery, from acclaimed author Victoria Gilbert, when a closed case is reopened after another member of a prominent family is murdered.

Cameron Clewe and Jane Hunter, lovers of all things bookish, are slowly cataloging Cam’s private collection of first edition books acquired from the deceased patriarch of the wealthy Stewart family. When Jane finds a note from Kimberly Stewart Ward, one of the daughters of the Stewart patriarch—who supposedly committed suicide—she discovers someone was actually targeting her with the intention of killing her.

Jane and Cam decide to look into the supposedly closed case, but their investigation becomes urgent when another member of the Stewart family is found dead from a drug overdose. The victim’s friends claim he’d been clean and sober for years and refuse to accept the cause of death.

Believing both cases to be connected, Jane and Cam are determined to solve them before any other direct heirs of the family are targeted.

My Thoughts: This case begins when Jane Hunter goes to the Stewart family home to pick up some books the man sold to Cameron. She went for ten books but came home with eleven. The extra book was a first edition but a marked up and battered copy. The only thing of interest was a note from Kimberley Stewart Ward - a daughter of the house - indicating that she felt she was in danger. Since Kimberley had died years earlier of an apparent suicide, Cam and Jane are puzzled and look to have discovered their next mystery.

The book must have been added to Jane's bag by a cousin of the family - a cousin who dies of a supposed drug overdose just days after Jane picks up the books. 

Deciding to look into the two overdoses, Jane and Cam discover a family used to covering up secrets. After all, there was that mysterious car accident years earlier which killed a woman and child. There are questions about who caused it and who was driving that were covered up at the time.

I enjoyed this mystery. I like the characters of Cam and Jane. Jane is a no-nonsense former librarian who at age 62 is willing to tell Cam when she sees something she doesn't like. Cam is a wealthy young man who suffers from anxiety and some assorted mental quirks. He seldom leaves home and uses Jane as he representative to the world. 

Fans of the series will want to read this one.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.