Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Naturals #2
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: November 4th 2014
Source: Publisher [Netgalley]

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?

Ever since I read The Naturals last year I've been dying for the sequel. There was still so much to learn about all of the characters, also, there was a love triangle that needed to be solved.

Killer Instinct definitely didn't let me down. As soon as I started reading it, I was completely sucked in. Jennifer Lynn Barns's writing is addictive and I just couldn't put this book down - no matter how creeped out I was! 

So we're back with The Naturals - Lia, Michael, Sloane, Cassie & Dean - and everyone is still reeling from what happened to Cassie. There's a new agent at the house determined to keep the group from working active cases, but a new serial killer appears and the victims murders strike close to home for one of The Naturals - the murderer is copying Dean's father. Although they're told to stay out of it, The Naturals decide that they have to solve this case for Dean and try to stop the killer before the bodies start piling up.

I absolutely loved that this book was about a murderer copying Dean's father because it meant I got to learn more about Dean! Dean is an extremely closed off character. He keeps his emotions to himself and shuts down when things get too hard. He's moody and broody, but it's all because of what he went through with his father. I loved getting to understand Dean more and find out some more about his past and his childhood. The new agent also provided some insight into Dean's past because she worked with Briggs on Dean's fathers case and she was extremely close to him. 

Cassie is a naive but also pretty awesome character. She has her moments where I absolutely love her because she's so smart and awesome, and other times I want to knock some sense into her. Lia is snarky, bitchy and also awesome. Sloane is extremely smart, adorably awkward and just amazing. Michael is sweet, protective but also kind of a jerk.

I loved that we still got the POV of the killer - and it's written in second person narrative which makes it even creepier. I had to get my fiancé to take the book off of me one night because I couldn't put it down but it was creeping me out and I needed to go to sleep. The killers POV creeped me out in the first book and it did the same in this one - but I absolutely loved those snippets.

Like Cassie and the rest of The Naturals, I thought I had the killer figured out - and then evidence turned up to prove that they couldn't have done it. And that happened twice! I was at a complete loss as to who the killer could be since my two suspects had alibis. I loved being kept on my toes and there were so many twists and surprises that I never saw coming.

The ending was the biggest surprise about this book. I was on edge the whole time when I was reading it and I wouldn't have put it down for anything. There were parts where I had hope something good would happen and other parts where my stomach completely dropped. Barnes definitely kept me on my toes. There was also something that happened at that end that made me extremely happy.

Overall, Killer Instinct was a fantastic follow up to The Naturals. It was captivating, nail-biting, full of suspense and shocking twists. There's still a lot to be discovered about the other Naturals and I can't wait for the next book! Killer Instinct is out next Tuesday and I'd definitely recommend grabbing a copy! And if you haven't started this series yet... what are you waiting for? It's amazing!