The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Hello all my fellow readers :) As always, I hope everyone's having a great week. Today I want to talk about a book I recently read that was honestly a little bit out of my usual reading comfort zone. As you can tell from the title of this post, that book was The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I am going to go ahead and say that serial killers are not my forte. I don't watch crime shows like CSI or Law and Order, and while I do love reading murder mysteries, they're definitely not typically the forensic science type at all, but this book just completely intrigued me. I really think Jennifer Lynn Barnes is such an amazing person. I always enjoy reading interviews with her and whatnot, and I've always wanted to give her books a try. While this book is definitely not a usual read for me, it just intrigued me, and I decided to go ahead and give it a try. And honestly?? I was really glad I did. Here's the goodreads synopsis to anyone unfamiliar with this series:

"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. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. 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."

Cassie feels at a crossroads in her life. Her mother was presumed murdered five years ago, presumed because the case was never solved, and her dad's military job has her living with her Italian paternal grandmother where she often feels out of place. She works in a local diner, tries to avoid the spotlight in her huge Italian family, has a natural gift for profiling people, and wonders if there will ever be anywhere that she truly feels like she belongs. One day, while working at the diner, a random encounter with a teenage guy leads to her finding out that the FBI is interested in pulling her into a program that they are currently operating across the country from Denver where she's currently living. After meeting with the agent, and finding out that her natural gifts are wanted by the program to help solve cold cases, Cassie is instantly intrigued due to the connection that her mother's case was also never solved. So although she is met with much resistance from her family, Cassie decides to enroll in the program, and ends up becoming part of a web of lies and deceit that she never saw coming.

The "Naturals" program is staffed by a cast of pretty quirky characters:

Michael, the teenage boy she originally met in the diner, who has a gift for reading emotions.

Dean: A silent, broody, teenage profiler like herself

Lia: Who's speciality is lying through her teeth and getting away with it. So she's able to weed out anyone else who's not telling the truth.

Sloane: Cassie's extremely high strung roommate, who's a master with statistics and patterns,

And finally Agents Brigg and Locke, who are the FBI agents assigned to make the program a success.

Cassie, to start with, still feels out of place. Dean doesn't seem to want her around, Sloane barely comes out of the basement long enough to associate with her, Lia seems to have a chip on her shoulder, and she doesn't truly know how to take Michael's affections. All five of the naturals seem to feel their talents are being wasted hanging around a house evaluating cold cases, when there's a real serial killer on the loose who agents Locke and Briggs are currently trying to stop. The agents are adamant that the kids must stay out of harms way, but all that changes when Cassie receives a gift in the mail from the killer. She has something the killer wants, and Cassie starts to wonder if solving this case may also solve the many unanswered questions surrounding her mother's mysterious murder. However, things are not at all what they seem to be, and the circumstances surrounding this serial killer will pull all five of the naturals in directions they never expected.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved how it wasn't paranormal,  just five kids who have enhanced abilities, and how these abilities can help the government. I loved seeing the budding friendship that begins to build between all five of the naturals, and the way the agents are willing to put their own lives on the line, to keep the five of them safe. I think, after reading this book, you can definitely tell that Jennifer Lynn Barnes has an educational background in these fields, and she did an amazing job of weaving it into this book. I also loved how even though I found myself second guessing most of the characters throughout the entire novel, I still hadn't pieced the ending together, and was honestly blown away by it. I give this book four out of five stars, and I can't wait to finish this series. 

I recommend giving this book a try, especially if you're into CSI type books. And it actually is a really quick read, I finished it almost all in one sitting.

My favorite quote (and let me tell you it was hard to pick just one, cause there was so many that I absolutely loved) was: "If this guy had an inner boy scout, than I had an inner flamingo."

Thanks for reading everybody :) I'll see you all in my next post.

This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. The photo was taken by me with my iPhone.