The Naturals Series (The Naturals, Killer Instinct, All In, and Bad Blood) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 1,472 pages

Cassie is considered a "Natural". At seventeen, Cassie is recruited to the Naturals program in the FBI, to become a profiler. Cassie is assigned to help with cold cases. She moves into a house with four other kids in Quantico, Virginia. Everyone has something that they are good at. Michael can read people's emotions, Lia is a human lie detector, Sloane is great with numbers and statistics and Dean, like Cassie, can read people. 

Cassie recognizes that a serial killer is killing women that look similar to her mother. Soon, Cassie is being targeted by that killer. It turns out that Cassie mentor, is her mother's younger sister as well as the killer. Soon, Cassie and the others are soon given active cases that tends to put them in dangerous situations. As the books progress, Cassie learns more about her mother's murder. 

These books had me hooked within the first chapter. These books are intense and they get into the minds of serial killers. I had a hard time putting them down. Heck, I read the first 3 books within a week! If you like the t.v. show Criminal Minds, this is book series for you. 

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin 348 pages

What happened to Tessa when she was sixteen was truly the stuff of nightmares. Now 20 years later the wrong man may be executed for the crime. So Tessa has to go back in time, has to find a way to remember details she has spent a lifetime trying to forget.  

If you like Psychological thrillers you will love this book. Beautifully written, fast paced, with lots of twists and turns, Black-Eyed Susans is a read in one sitting book that you don’t want to end even though it’s also sad and disturbing, and makes you want to scream at Tessa to just do what needs to be done even though you’re pretty sure that if it happened to you, you would probably do the same.

It’s not all dark though. It’s also a story of hope and life and courage and the good that comes from facing what you fear most. 

Rage Against The Dying by Becky Masterman 307 pages

Brigid Quinn is a retired FBI agent, recently married and living the life of her dreams in the Arizona desert.  And then a man confesses to a series of crimes, an old case that Brigid worked but never solved and where she lost her rookie partner whose body has yet to be found. The killer has agreed to disclose the location of the body in exchange for life imprisonment rather than the death penalty. When the current FBI agent on the case tells Brigid she believes the confession is fake, Brigid is drawn back to the life in a big and not entirely sanctioned way.

Did I mention she is fifty-nine, white haired and married to an ex Catholic priest?

Brigid Quinn is one of the most engaging, and believable, tough and determined, needy and self- sufficient and just plain plucky protagonists that I’ve come across in a long, long time. She doesn’t give up, she does what has to be done and worries about the consequences later. I cannot wait until the next installment, it was that good.