The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages: 308
Intended Audience: Teens
Genre: Mystery / Crime
Notes for Parents: Some mature content; crime scenes; and some scenes that may be frightening for sensitive readers.

The Back Cover

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 comes knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to close infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie’s help.
Cassie moves across the country to train with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own, and who can be as puzzling as the unsolved homicides they have to work together to crack. Cassie’s roommate, Sloane, is better with statistics than she is with people, and human lie detector Lia is as prickly as they come. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length. Then there’s sarcastic, privileged Michael, who has a knack for reading emotions and uses his skills to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin.
No one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes close to home, danger creeps closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a murderer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a series. The author has advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science, and has a PhD from Yale. She’s a psychology professor.

What’s good?

This is a fast-paced, exciting crime thriller centered on a group of teenagers empowered by their natural (not supernatural!) abilities who help the FBI track down a serial killer. While this is a dark tale that delves into the psychology of a killer, the plot is easy to follow. There is plenty of misdirection to keep the reader engaged, and, while the end wasn’t a great surprise, there were enough twists and turns that I second-guessed myself several times. The characters are likeable and Cassie, the main character, has the potential to be a strong heroine in subsequent books.
Best Part: Creepy “killer” chapters.

What isn’t good?

The story was a little weak. The grim subject matter and tense, psychological game-playing deserved a more complex plot with better developed characters. Cassie’s supporting cast was made up of clichéd teenagers who, as a team, offered no sense of cohesiveness (though this may come with time in subsequent volumes). There was an attempt at weaving together the drama of Cassie’s past with the mystery of an active serial killer, but the tension was never sustained, probably smothered by a feeble stab at romance.
Worst part: The ridiculous game of Truth or Dare.

Recommendation þþþoo

While many reviewers called this “Criminal Minds” for young adults, I think that’s a little exaggerated. The premise requires suspension of disbelief to accept the use of teenagers in any capacity by the FBI, let alone for pursuing serial killers. Barry Lyga’s book I Hunt Killers did a better job of getting into the mind of the killer. However, the main character is likeable, the mystery was persistent, and – the bottom line – it was entertaining. Recommended.

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. The Naturals. Los Angeles: Hyperion, 2013.