Killer instinct
Page turning
Fast paced
Intense

Killer instinct The Naturals #2

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? The plot contains sexual situations and graphic violence.
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Reviews

Photo of lily
lily@aceroselily
4 stars
Feb 23, 2025

This book really captivates exactly what I was hoping for when I started this series. I’m still a little iffy on how much Sloane is a copy of Dr. Spencer Reid (from criminal minds) but overall loved the dynamic of the group working together and showcasing their specialties when needed.

I will say it gets repetitive with the whole “I didn’t have to say it out loud, they answered me without me having to say anything” but considering they’re supposed to be there for their abilities, we let it slide lol

Now in terms of the romance aspect, I still don’t understand the chemistry of our main character with ANY of the two guys other than forced proximity 😭 and I did like that the love triangle aspect of this series is less random and forced in comparison to the first one. I still don’t understand why she had to choose so fast when she hasn’t known these people for that long but Michael giving her space to figure out what she was feeling really paved way to incorporate the romance in a way that made sense for her to connect with both of the guys.

Photo of Lauren Dale
Lauren Dale@ljdale
4.5 stars
Nov 24, 2024

Something about this series I just can’t put down. I did not want to stop reading this book in particular for some reason. It was just so engaging and always left me guessing

+3
Photo of Brittany Peterson
Brittany Peterson@lardib
4 stars
Oct 17, 2024

If you like criminal minds this series is for you!!

I cannot wait to keep going with this series!

The audiobooks are really well done!!!

Photo of Amelia Hruby
Amelia Hruby@ameliajo
4 stars
Sep 2, 2024

I love how propulsive the plot in this book was. I barely took a breath between start and finish.

+1
Photo of taci
taci@anastacia_vitoria
4 stars
Jul 30, 2024

interesting but not as good as the 1st one,, the sexual tension tho😻😻

Photo of anj
anj@angheligaya
3 stars
Jul 23, 2024

well, that's one hell of a ride my head hurts but will I continue reading this series? YES.

+5
Photo of anya
anya@anyasrvn
3 stars
Jul 22, 2024

bro how many times can a fbi agent be the killer

Photo of Aimee :)
Aimee :)@aimees_reading
4 stars
Jul 16, 2024

I didn’t like this as much compared to the first one, probably because i felt like our main character wasn’t as involved but i wasn’t entirely correct. The end is where it got a whole lot better, and i really enjoyed those scenes. I just wish they went on for longer, because they really made me feel more emotions. I feel like a lot of it was just back and forth stuff as well. But overall i did really enjoy this book, there was hardly any plot twists i saw coming. I’m not so sure on the love interest but maybe it’ll grow more on me.

Photo of Salma
Salma@urfav_brunette
5 stars
Jul 4, 2024

Finished this book in two days. I think that's I should say to convince you to read it

+5
Photo of Linta
Linta@lintareads
4 stars
May 29, 2024

4.75 Team Dean all the way

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kalenga @sillkpetalls
3 stars
May 15, 2024

3.8 stars

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Monicap@insult_the_glory
4 stars
Apr 29, 2024

I seem to remember liking Dean in the first one. Hell, I went back and read my review and I said that I liked Dean. And I liked Dean in this one to, but... MICHAEL. Yeah, that aside, I don't think the mystery in this one was quite as mind-blowing as the first. Like, the first book, TOTAL plot twist, did not see that coming, I was shocked. And I didn't see this one coming either, but the way that the mystery piled up just felt cheap and lazy. Sorry. But I still liked this book, and I would like to read the next one as well, and maybe end up rereading them from the start.

Photo of nic
nic@daylily
3 stars
Apr 24, 2024

so distraught over the way the love triangle went i cannot focus on anything else

Photo of tris
tris@trisreads
5 stars
Apr 14, 2024

SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD #DEANCASSIEENDGAME

This review contains a spoiler
Photo of Priscilla Stanfield
Priscilla Stanfield@priscillas01
5 stars
Mar 27, 2024

Why did I put off reading this series for so long? This one was so good. It captivated me from beginning to end. The whole concept of this series I didn’t know if I was going to like or not but having read the first two already I’m glad to have really enjoyed them so far. I’ll be immediately picking up the next one exciting what is next to come in this series. I will also note, I’m so happy to have these original covers because for me these correlate with the story so much more from what I have read and am so happy to have them.

Photo of gracyn neely
gracyn neely@gdneely
4.5 stars
Feb 10, 2024

way better than the first one but still don’t like that the love triangle was still a plot point

+3
Photo of Sadie Hoffman
Sadie Hoffman@sadieolympia
4.5 stars
Feb 7, 2024

woah dude killer turn of events. craazy 🩸💜

Photo of fris🐝
fris🐝@lfrisbee
4 stars
Jan 23, 2024

this was much better than the first book I was more invested in the plot and I wanted to know where the characters ended up more! I will say I think she chose the wrong love interest but I am okay with it and I will be reading the next one

Photo of issa
issa@issaktay
5 stars
Jan 18, 2024

serial killers are kinda scary 🤷🏽‍♀️

Photo of Kate B-L
Kate B-L@librarycard
4.5 stars
Jan 17, 2024

4.5 - unputdownable, loved every minute of it.

+5
Photo of Jaden Nelson
Jaden Nelson@unojaden
4 stars
Nov 30, 2023

4.5 Again, another great book in the series. I really enjoyed this books and I loved how well thought out it was. The plot is so twisty-turny and great, but I do have to say it didn't give me as much of a rush as The Naturals did so that is why it did not get 5 stars. Otherwise, amazing sequel and I would definitely recommend to crime loving readers.

Photo of Olivia
Olivia @oliviarose07
4.5 stars
Nov 25, 2023

Sooooo good!!!!

+4
Photo of Cameryn Wright
Cameryn Wright@cambam
5 stars
Oct 17, 2023

So good!!! Everytime I thought I figured it out I was genuinely shocked by the plot twists. This is definitely a favorite

Photo of denise
denise@bakerhannah
4 stars
Oct 13, 2023

found family we fucking love you

Highlights

Photo of taci
taci@anastacia_vitoria

The rules just changed, I thought. The Naturals program just got some oversight," Agent Sterling replied. "There are going to be some new regulations. New protocols. And they'l1l mean something. No more special exceptionsnot even from me." Her expression was stern, but Michael must have seen something I didn't, because he broke into a grin. Agent Sterling smiled, too--directly at me. "We're going to need those regulations," she added, “because as of tomorrow, the five of you are cleared to consult on active cases." They weren't shutting us out. They were letting us in. Instead of taking away my purpose, they'd given it new life. This was a whole new world.

Page 310

finalmente

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

If I’d chosen Michael, Dean would have understo0d. I started walking toward the porch, toward Dean, my pace gaining with each step. Michael's voice called after me. "Cassie" There was a hint of genuine emotion in his voice just a hint of something, but I couldn't tell what. I looked back over my shoulder, but didn't turn around. Yes?" Michael stared at me, his hazel eyes holding a mixture of emotions I couldn't quite parse. "If it had been me in the woods, if I'd been the one to go with Briggs, if I'd been the one you saw at the exact second..." Would it have been me? He didn't finish the question, and I didn't answer it. As I turned back toward the house, he went back to knocking the windows out of that broken, battered car. "Yeah," he said, his voice carrying on the wind. "That's what I thought."

Page 304

essa doeu

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

Michael looked up and caught sight of me, as if my thoughts had somehow made their way from my mind to his. He studied me, the way he had the first day we'd met, before I'd known what he could do. "That's it, then?" he asked me. I didn't answer. I couldn't. My eyes darted toward the porch. Toward Dean. Michael gave me a careless smile. You win some, you lose some," he said with a shrug. Like I'd never been anything more than a game. Like I didn't matter. Because he wouldn't let me matter anymore. "It's just as well," he continued, each word a calculated shot to my heart. "Maybe if Redding's getting some, hel finally loosen up." I knew, objectively, what this was. If you cant keep them from hitting you, you make them hit you. That didn't stop his words from cuting into me.

Page 303

fuck

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

Dean pulled me gently toward him. His lips brushed lightly over mine. The action was hesitant, uncertain. My hands settled on the back of his neck, pulling him closer. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe when the smoke cleared, things would look different. But I couldn't stop it, couldn't keep living my life on maybes if I wanted to live. I rose up on my toes, my body pressed against his, and returned the kiss, the pain in my face fading, washed away with the rest of the world, until there was only this moment-one that I hadn't thought I'd live to see.

Page 297
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"I was wrong," he said, "when I said I just felt something." He was breathing heavily. I couldn't breathe at all. "When I said I wasn't sure it was enough."

Page 296

finally!!

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

“But how did you- "Your ankle tracker." "Agent Sterling said she hadn't activated it." Briggs smiled wryly. "She hadn't, but since she was on a playing-by-the- rules kick when she checked it out, she filled out all the paperwork. I's were dotted. T's were crossed. We had the serial number and were able to activate it remotely."

Page 295
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

He brought the gun to his shoulder. The tip of the barrel was less than three feet away from my body. It hovered over my midsection for a few seconds, then settled just over my forehead. I closed my eyes. "Take them. Free them. Track them. Kill" He cut off, suddenly and without warning. It was only later that my brain processed the sound of gunfire, the rush of footsteps coming toward me. "Cassie. Cassie."

Page 293
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

I did the only thing there was left to do. I jumped. The gun went off. The shot went wide, and I Crashed into him, feet first. We both went down in a tangle of limbs. He kept hold of the rifle, but I was too close for him to point it at me. Three seconds. That was how long it took for him to get the upper hand, to wrestle me to the ground. He pinned me with one hand, then rose to a crouch and slammed a foot into my chest, replacing his hand. Head wound bleeding heavily, he stood. From my position on the ground, he looked impossibly tall. Invincible.

Page 294
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

Please don t see me. Please dont see me. Please don't see me. His eyes were on the ground. Tracks. I'd left tracks-and they stopped right under this tree. I knew the second he was going to look up. I only had time for one thought, one silent plea. Don't miss. My arm whipped the rock at him so hard, I nearly knocked myself out of the tree. He looked up. I didn't miss.

Page 293
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Why couldn t you just do what I asked? Why did you make him bring you, too?" The anger drained out of her voice from one sentence to the next until all that was left was a terrible, hollow hopelessness. "Because," I said, nodding toward my right foot and wincing when my head protested, "I'm wearing a GPS tracking anklet." Sterling's head was bowed, but her eyes found their way to mine. "The minute I left the property, Briggs got a text message," I said. "It won't take him long to realize that you're missing, too. He'l pull up the data from my tracker. He'll find us. If I'd let you go alone..." I didn't finish that sentence. "Briggs will find us." Sterling lifted her head to the ceiling. At first, I thought she was smiling, but then I realized she was crying" ”I never activated the tracker. I thought wearing it was deterrent enough." The tracker was supposed to go off. It was supposed to lead Briggs right to us.

Page 285

oh shit

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

not going to cut them. This time, you think, we're doing it my way. knock her out-and oh, it feels good. It feels right. You're not going to hang them. You're not going to brand them. You're You have the One Who Got Away. You have his useless litle son's girl. You make the FBI agent put the girl in your trunk, climb in herself. You You slam the trunk. You climb into the car. You drive away. The student has become the master:.

Page 283

psicopata

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Eyes on me, Cassie." Sterling shifted her focus from the UNSUB to me just long enough to issue that instruction. It took me a moment to realize why. She doesnt want me to see him. "Knock her out. Leave her here. She wasn't part of the plan. Your plan." Sterling's voice was steady, but her hands were shaking. She was playing a dangerous game. One wrong word and the UNSUB could kill me as easily as he could knock me out. "She can't identify you. By the time she wakes up, you'll be long gone, and I'l be yours. You won't lose me, the way Redding did. You'll take your time. You'll do it your way, but they won't find you. They won't find me if you stick to the plan."

Page 281
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Take me. That's what you came here for. I'm the one who got away from Redding. Proving you're better than his other apprentices, killing them isn't enough. You want to prove you're better than him. To show him." The grip on my neck relaxed, but the gun never wavered. I sucked air into my burning lungs, gasping for just one breath, then two.

Page 280
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Call Briggs, and Ill go to bed," I promised. Even in the dark, I could make out the annoyance on her face. Fine," she said finally, pulling out her phone and waving it at me. "T"l call him." "No," a voice said, directly behind me. “You won't." I didn't have time to turn, to think, to process the words. An arm locked around my throat, cutting off my air supply and jerking me to the tips of my toes. My body was pulled flat against my assailant's. I clawed at the arm around my neck. It tightened. I couldn't breathe. Something metal and cool grazed my cheek and came to rest at my temple.

Page 280

noooo

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"What if Christopher wasn't the one communicating with this girl online? What if he didn't choose her?" Clark chose Emerson. Christopher chose his mother. They both had ironclad alibis for the murders of the women they had chosen. What if they weren't the only ones? «You think there's a third." Sterling put the possibility into words. That made it real. I braced the heels of my hands against the edge of the bed, steadying myself. "Did Christopher confess to Emerson's murder?" I asked. "Is there any physical evidence tying him to the scene? Any circumstantial evidence?

Page 277
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

«That's the difference between the two of us," Michael told me. “I don't just want you." Now both of his hands were on my face. “I want to want you. Michael wasn't a person who let himself want things. He certainly didn' admit to wanting them. He didn't let anything under his skin. He expected to be disappointed. "Pm here, Cassie. I know what I feel, and I know that when you let your guard down, when you let yourself, you feel it, too." He ran his fingers lightly over the back of my neck. “I know that you're scared."

Page 271

assim fica complicado

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

Do you--Dean, I need to know what you feel. For me." Any second, things could change. "I feel...something." Dean's words came unevenly. He turned toward me, his leg brushing against mine. “But I don't know if I can--I don't know if it's enough." He closed my hand around the tube of lipstick I was holding., his hand covering mine. I don't know if I can...." Can what? Open up? Let go? Risk letting something mater so much that losing it could push you off the edge? Michael appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Dean let go of my hand. "They found him," Michael said, coming to a standstill and looking up at us. “Briggs's team found Christopher Simms."

Page 269
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Alfred Hitchcock," Sloane chimed in. “1951 film. One hour and forty- one minutes long. The movie postulates that the most foolproof way to get away with murder is for two strangers to take out each other's targets." «That way," Briggs said softly, each killer has an alibi when their target dies." Like Clark had been in a room with hundreds of others taking a test when Emerson had been killed. The dominoes fell, one by one in my head. Like Christopher Simms was in a meeting with Briggs when someone killed his mother.

Page 265

damn

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Because a match came up in the system." Briggs shrugged off his suit jacket and folded it neatly over one arm. It was a restrained action, one that didn't match the look in his eyes in the least. "Clark's DNA matches the sample found under Trina Simms's fingernails." I took a moment to process the implication. Sloane was obliging enough to put it into words. "So what you're saying," she replied, "is that Gary Clarkson isn't just victim number four. He's also our second UNSUB."

Page 260

really?

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

Two UNSUBS. UNSUB 1 was organized. He'd killed Emerson and Clark- and quite possibly the professor. UNSUB 2 was disorganized. He'd murdered Trina Simms right after we'd gone to visit her.

Page 260
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taci@anastacia_vitoria

She jerked out of his grasp. "Then whose fault is it? The other deception reader in the room who is apparently completely useless?" "What if you're not?" Sloane interjected. Her eyes weren't quite focused on the here and now. I could practically hear the gears in her head turning. “Not useless, I mean," she said, haphazardly pushing white-blond bangs out of her eyes with the heel of her hand. "What if he was telling the truth, every single time?" Lia shook her head hard enough to send her ponytail swishing. "That's not possible." "It is," Sloane said, "if there's more than one apprentice."

Page 257

😱😱😱

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"Is your apprentice a college student?" I asked. Redding didn't hesitate, not even for a second. "Yes." "Is your apprentice someone who's never been to college?" If Redding thought it odd that I was asking two versions of the same question, he gave no indication of it. "Yes." "Is your apprentice under the age of twenty-one?" «Yes." "Is your apprentice over the age of twenty-one?" He smiled. "Yes." "Is your apprentice someone you met through the mail?" Yes." "Is your apprentice someone you met in person?" Yes."

Page 252

mas isso são coisas incompatíveis

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

Briggs exhaled loudly. Then he turned to me. "There was one other thing." "No." Dean's objection was immediate and absolute. "Dean- "I said no." “That's not your decision to make," Briggs told Dean. "The hardest part of this job isn't being willing to put yourself on the line your safety, your sanity, your reputation. The hardest part is letting people you care about do the samne." Dean turned toward the kitchen. I thought he would walk away, but he didn't. He stood there, his back to the rest of us, as Agent Briggs told us about Redding's parting shot. "He said that if we wanted to talk to him sooner, rather than later, that Dean wouldn't come alone next time."

Page 245

he is bringing cassie

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taci@anastacia_vitoria

"We have DNA," Briggs allowed himself a brief smile-the FBI agent's version of dancing a jig. "Trina Simms got our UNSUB with her fingernails."

Page 244

sloppy

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