Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes [Reviews]

4 out of 5 Robots!

  

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: Naturals #2
Genre: YA Mystery/Crime
Release: November 4, 2014
Hardcover:  386 Pages
Publisher:Disney Hyperion
My Copy: Purchased
Reviewer: Shannon

Book Summary:

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.

(Courtesy of the Publisher)

Shannon's Thoughts:

Killer Instinct takes place a few weeks after the end of the first book, The Naturals.  Cassie is reeling from the events that took place in the previous book that left two of her friends and fellow Naturals injured.  A new agent is sent to the house and she is strictly play-by-the-numbers.  But a new murderer emerges with the same M.O. as Dean's serial killer father and the team becomes deeply involved as they try to help Dean and figure out who is the killer.

I liked this book a lot better than the first, The Naturals.  I felt things were more established and more polished this go around.  And I think I enjoyed this mystery more as well.  I liked how the Naturals band together to try to help once another.  I like them better together rather than in opposition with each other.  A certain amount of suspension of belief is needed, but this book is also a lot of fun.  The ending was especially fast paced and scary.  I did not fully figure out who the culprit was until the very end.

If you are looking for a fun thriller, I recommend this series!