I received this ARC from Publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Series: The Naturals #2
Published by Disney Hyperion on 2014-11-04
Pages: 386
Source: ARC from Publisher
Amazon-Indiebound
Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.
But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?
With her trademark wit, brilliant plotting, and twists that no one will see coming, Jennifer Lynn Barnes will keep readers on the edge of their seats (and looking over their shoulders) as they race through the pages of this thrilling novel.
My Thoughts:
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK BEFORE BED! At least, if you’re a baby like me. The serial killer aspect freaked me the heck out and I could not sleep. But it was so, so worth it.
Killer Instinct is totally not my “usual” kind of book. I tend to shy away from murder mysteries but I loved the first book (The Naturals) and Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a favorite author. She does such an excellent job crafting the story that I’m immediately drawn in. I forget any reservations I have about being a scardy cat and just enjoy the story!
And what a great story! Teens who have natural abilities useful to solving FBI cases? So intriguing. And then you put them in a house together and help them hone their skills… clearly this is a recipe for awesome! The things I loved in The Naturals were present in Killer Instinct. What made me love Killer Instinct even more than The Naturals was the background information. In addition to the new case, we learn so much about Cassie and the other teens in the program. As a reader, I was very curious about what brought them to the naturals program and who they were before the FBI found them. We get more glimpses of this and I loved it!
And of course there are the FBI and case solving aspects as well! They really kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved seeing Cassie, Michael, Lia, Sloane, and Dean work! The excerpts from the killers point of view were eery and built the tension of the story like crazy. Plus, the introduction of the newest FBI agent to the program shakes things up!
Basically, if you haven’t read The Naturals yet you need to get on it. Make sure you have Killer Instinct handy because you’re going to want more! Don’t forget, make sure you don’t have to go anywhere in the dark when reading these books!!
Ange/Libby Blog
I LOVE this series! It is SO darn good! It reminds of the new show Scorpions actually. Except that this team has a very specific purpose of hunting serial killers instead of any threat to national security. Fantastic though! Agreed!