Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Narrator: Amber Faith
Series: The Naturals (Book 1)
Publication: Little, Brown Young Readers (June 13, 2023)
Length: 7 Hours and 29 Minutes
Description: Cold cases are about to get hot. Don’t miss this exhilarating crime thriller—perfect for fans of Criminal Minds and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder—from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inheritance Games.
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it's not a skill that she's ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.
What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she's sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
Think The Mentalist meets Pretty Little Liars—Jennifer Lynn Barnes's The Naturals is a gripping psychological thriller with killer appeal, a to-die-for romance, and the bones of a gritty and compelling new series.
My Thoughts: Cassie is a natural at reading people. She's also the daughter of a woman who was murdered and whose body disappeared. Taken in by her father's family, a father she barely knows, she is growing up in Colorado. She's approached to join a FBI unit composed of Naturals - people who are especially good at profiling and other arcane skills.
Thinking that this would be a good opportunity to finally find the person who murdered her mother, she gets moved to Arlington, Virginia, and into a house with four other teens with special gifts. Lia knows if someone is lying. Sloane is talented at numbers, probability, and details. Michael is an expert at reading body language. And Dean is another natural profiler like Cassie.
The program is supervised by FBI Special Agent Briggs and his partner Special Agent Locke who is also a profiler. Locke is the one most involved in Cassie's training. While the kids are getting to know each other and being trained, a serial killer is chalking up victims in the area. The serial killer seems to be mirroring Cassie's mother's death.
Briggs wants to keep the kids out of the case since their mandate is to work on cold cases, but the killer has other ideas. Gifts to Cassie and Sloane all relate to Cassie's mother and draw her into the investigation despite Briggs trying to keep her out.
The story introduces an interesting group of intriguing characters. Besides their unusual skills, all the kids have their own stresses and backstories. I enjoyed watching the characters interact and learning more about them. I could even get behind the love triangle that develops between Cassie, Michael and Dean.
The story is creepy and twisty and compelling.
I bought this one December 19, 2024. You can buy your copy here.
I bought this one December 19, 2024. You can buy your copy here.
