When I took my twin sons to the public library, one of them left with four books, The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (no relation…as far as we know).
The four books in the series are The Naturals, Killer Instinct, All In, and Bad Blood. I also learned there is a novella called Twelve.
After seeing how much he enjoyed the series, his twin brother and I wanted to read the first book. He reread it with us. We all enjoyed it.
The Naturals, book 1, centers on a 17-year-old protagonist Cassie Hobbes who is recruited into an FBI program for teens gifted with abilities that allow them to profile criminals and solve cold cases. Additionally, Cassie’s mom, a psychic, has been missing for five years and is believed to be dead, which adds another layer to Cassie’s decision to join the program.
Barnes has included memorable characters as well as a love triangle…if solving a murder wasn’t enough to deal with.
The last few chapters started to become predictable; however, the book ended with a decent enough cliffhanger to get the reader to move on to book two.
Due to the crime scene details being discussed in the book, I recommend this book for high school students and older.
Rating: 4/5
| Suggested Grades | 9-12 |
| Lexile | HL690L (HL = high low) |
| Guided Reading Level | S |
| Accelerated Reader Level | 5.0 |