All In (The Naturals #3)
Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days.
After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any tape. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code—and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes.
Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there's been a break in her mother's case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds—and impossible choices.
Book 1 Review ↓
The Naturals (The Naturals, #1)
Now this was a book that got me excited to partake in a series again! From start to finish the book immediately draws you in with its main character Cass and her prolific ability to profile people, sometimes with just a glance coupled with her non-nonsense personality and witty persona I was quickly pulled into her world and wanted to see how far she wo…
Book 2 Review ↓
Killer Instinct (The Naturals, #2)
Before I dive deep into my thoughts and opinions on the second book, Killer Instinct, from The Natural series written by Jennifer Lynns Barnes; I recommend checking out my book of the first book here →
We’re now three books deep into The Naturals series and I’m still tuned in to the world-building and character-building that goes into the morbid Natural program that utilizes kids with extraordinary gifts to solve serial killer cold cases. Following our main character Cassie, we enter the gambling world of Las Vegas as they’re on the hunt for their next UNSUB in hopes of catching and stopping any more murders from occurring within the town.
Each book does a deeper dive into some of the secondary main naturals, giving the reader some much needed background info and insight to how the other kids in the program operate, what their home life was like and how that plays an impactful role to the unique skillets each member brings to the team.
With three bodies, throughout three casinos within three days already. Cassie and the Naturals are on a race against the clock to solve their latest cold case, which keeps escalated every time they start making progress, all the while Cassie struggles to keep herself together dealing with her mother’s own unsolved cold case, needed to be a support system for her teammates who are more directly tied or link to this specific case. In the wise words of Lia, its not Cassie’s time to break down yet, and boy does she want to break down all throughout this book.
As far as series go, I think Barnes is able to keep the momentum going from the first book throughout the next two in the series, since she focuses a little bit more on different characters and different cases in each one, tying them back to the overall million dollars question: who killed Cassie’s mother, and why?
Such an engaging storyline, while also adding so much hidden depths throughout the Naturals cast as they’re all touched in some way or some form by the dark atrocities of human nature whether that's through murder, abuse, cult ideologies, or parental abandonment. Each character had to rise above their childhood trauma in a way that helped make them extraordinary and naturally aligned to certain skill-sets, almost like having a trauma-informed superpower!
Sometimes getting into a book series can be a bit rough, especially by book 3, a story can really start to lose its initial steam and entertainment value, but I think Barnes does a good job of subverting that by adding fresh, and additional lore about her character’s past that really kept me personally involved, almost like a lil treat (which for someone whose big on character building, it is a lil treat for me!)
I honestly took a long gap between reading Book 2 and Book 3, but I felt like I could immediately jump back in and pick up from where I had last left off without feeling confused, or needing to go back and reread the prior books. There’s definitely continuity throughout the series and its definitely necessary to have read the previous books, but the overall story line of each book is so hyper-specific to the current case that it is possible to just read any of the books as a standalone, which is cool, but there's also so many little missing pieces that you wouldn’t catch if you haven't been keeping pace from the beginning and really taking the time to get to know the characters in this exciting, extraordinary, and “natural” world.
My favorite thing about this book series is that there's so many twists and turns, and the author is really good at misdirecting the reader, each time I felt certain about a specific “twist”, she would go in a completely different direction. I feel like this third book really twisted the whole concept on its head by the end and I was literally on the edge of my seat as everytime one case closes we get even more questions about Cassie’s mother. Literally what happened to her mother? is she still alive? Is she Pythia from the newly introduced cult that the naturals are dealing with?
I’m kinda sad I have a full reading list of books I need and want to read because the way my jaw lowkey dropped when I finished the third book, I can’t wait until I’ve gone through my reading wishlist a bit and can finally pick up the fourth book in the series, since I have a feeling things are only just beginning and things are about to get real wild for the naturals as they go from the hunters to the hunted.
4 /5 stars
As always, if you see a typo, say a typo and let me know!
smiles,
fablouis
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Currently Reading! ↓
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.