Serial killers and psychics

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes’ mother, a fake psychic, taught Cassie the BPE’s from an early age. Just by noticing someone’s Behavior, Personality, and Environment Cassie can see the details of someone’s life. This talent is so second nature that she can no longer turn it off, making it difficult to make friends and fit in. However, it’s exactly the kind of skill that the FBI wants to cultivate to solve cold cases and serial murders. To that end they recruit Cassie to a special team-in-training: The Naturals. Along with four other teens (each with a particular skill set)s, Cassie spends her days learning how to use her talent to track down serial killers. While the teens are studying old murders, the agents teaching them are working on an active case – a brutal serial killer is leaving bodies in their city. As Cassie gleans info about the case, sherealizes that this murderer is escalating - and has a fascination with red-headed psychics like Cassie…and her mother, who was murdered several years ago by a killer with a similar MO. Could these cases be related? And is Cassie also in danger?

I’ve loved the novels of Jennifer Lynn Barnes for years, ever since I read her first book, Golden, in 2006. This is an author I can always turn to for richly layered plots, authentically voiced characters, and high interest storylines. The Naturals gave me all of this plus a cast of teens and adults that were so well-drawn I became emotionally invested in their lives. I did not want to stop listening to this audiobook and finished it in two days. I think that’s a record, even for me. I can't wait to read the next book in this incredible series.

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. The Naturals. New York: Miramax Books for Kids, 2013