The Naturals (book)

''This article is about the novel. For other uses, see The Naturals (disambiguation).''

The Naturals is a fiction, dystopian, mystery, thriller novel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It is the first book in The Naturals Series, followed by Killer Instinct. It was released on October 7, 2014  (paperback)  and November 5, 2013  (hardcover).

Synopsis
''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 come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie's help.''

''What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides - especially when she's sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.''

Summary
 Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Cassie is a natural profiler. en s w her mother was murdered, so she went to live with her estranged father, who then joined the armed forces. She then lives with her Italian grandmother, Nonna.

While at work one day, she meets a strange boy (who we later find out is named Michael), leaves a business card asking Cassie to call Agent Briggs of the FBI. Cassie calls Briggs, and he asks her to join the FBI for this new project that they’re doing with Naturals – people who have a natural ability to read people and situations, who are perfect for the stuff that the FBI does (mainly hunting for serial killers and investigating abductions). Cassie agrees to join up with the FBI because she believes it is what her mother would have wanted. After an intense discussion with her grandmother, she jets off to a house where the rest of the Naturals are staying.

Here Cassie meets Lia, a natural lie detector; Sloane, who is basically a genius; Dean, who is also a profiler like Cassie; and another FBI agent called Locke. Michael also lives there. He’s good at reading emotions.

Agent Locke starts taking Cassie and Dean to the shopping mall for their “lessons”. To begin with, she asks them to read a woman, and, later on, a car. The next day she asks them questions about an abduction case, where a young girl was taken from a store. Dean tells Cassie that a girl was drowned by someone in a pool, and one of the fake crime scenes at the house depicts this crime.

Later, the Naturals are gathered together where Lia sets up a game of Truth or Dare, which ends with Cassie kissing Dean. Making Michael jealous, where he later kisses Cassie.

Locke and Briggs have to go out on a case, leaving Cassie to read old case files in the library. While reading, she discovers that Dean’s father was a serial killer. She confronts Dean, who gets upset and tells her that it took a long time to catch his father. This is the reason the FBI chose Dean for a project. Lia brings Cassie a tube of lipstick as a gift, it is the same kind as the one Cassie’s mother used to wear. Sloane steals a USB containing the files on the case that Briggs and Locke are away investigating. Sloane, Michael, and Cassie look at the files. Cassie figures out that this could be the same person who killed her mother, because they are going after the same type of person, and dying their victims’ hair red. Cassie becomes distressed. Briggs and Locke find out about the theft of the USB and tell the teenagers to stop it. They wipe Sloane’s computer, but they overlook Michael’s, which has copies.

Cassie receives a parcel in the mail, which is brought in by Lia. It contains a lock of red hair and is obviously from the killer. Sloane comes across a second parcel, but they don’t open this one in case they compromise the evidence. Briggs opens it instead, and inside if a lock of blonde hair, and a photo of the victim. It’s a senator’s daughter. The agents go to Club Muse, where Genevieve was last seen. This time, they take Cassie with them, since the killer obviously wants her involved. In the bathroom, Cassie sees a code that spells out “For a good time, call Lorelai. Guaranteed plus one. Kola and Thorn.” Lorelai was her mother’s name. “Kola and Thorn” is an anagram for a street, which the agents then go to. They discover a house with a room that looks just like the crime scene of Cassie’s mother’s murder. Back at the house, Cassie figures out that whoever is doing this had replicated her mother’s crime scene, and therefore much have inside knowledge about the case. The same blood smear was on the light switch, which was put on the original crime scene by Cassie after her mother was murdered and the killer had left. The killer could well be inside the house. Cassie calls Agent Locke, who tells her to go to a safehouse, listening to what she says Cassie leaves with Dean

Cassie and Dean reach the safehouse and come across Michael with a gun. He’s blaming Dean for what has happened. Suddenly Michael is shot, and Cassie turns around and sees Agent Locke there. Locke knocks Dean out, so it’s just her and Cassie. She reveals that Lorelai was her sister, making Locke Cassie’s aunt. Lorelai left Locke at home with an abusive father when she was just twelve because Lorelai fell in love and was pregnant. Lorelai said she couldn’t take Locke with her, because she wasn’t legally allowed to.

Locke had been traveling all around the country, killing people who reminded her of her sister. She had initially planned on killing Lorelai herself, but someone else had gotten there first. She’s the one who suggested Cassie for the program. Locke stabs Genevieve after trying to make Cassie do it. Cassie distracts Locke, enough so that Michael can grab a gun and shoot her.

After things have been cleared up, the book ends with Michael telling Cassie to figure out how she feels about him and Dean, and that he'll be waiting.

Characters

 * Cassie Hobbes
 * Michael Townsend
 * Special Agent Tanner Briggs
 * Nonna
 * Lia Zhang
 * Sloane Tavish
 * Dean Redding
 * Special Agent Lacey Locke

Quotes
"Whatever you have to say," Michael drawled, "You can say in front of me...whatever you have to say, you can say in front of me, unless Cassie wishes to speak to you privately, in which case I completely respect her right to do so." - Michael Townend to Dean Redding and Cassie Hobbes.
 * "There are fourteen varieties of hugs...this is one of them.” - Sloane Tavish to Cassie Hobbes.
 * “We need to talk," Dean said.
 * “My companions could make observations. Sloane could generate relevant statistics. If there'd been witness testimony, Michael could have told us who was exhibiting signs of guilt. But here, now, looking at the pictures, this was my domain. I would have to backtrack to explain how I knew, to figure out how I knew -- but I was certain.” -Cassie Hobbes