Killer Spirit
Quotes from the Book
Too young to party, just odd enough to participate in federal investigations of serial murder. Story of my life.
Don’t you ever apologize for being what you are.
Across from us, Lia eyed our hands and then brought her own to her forehead in a melodramatic motion. "I'm a dark and angsty profiler," she intoned. "No," she countered in a falsetto, bringing her other hand up, "I'm a dark and angsty profiler. Ours is a star-crossed love.
Nothing hurts you unless you let it.
Home isn't a place, Cassie.' The memory crept up on me. 'Home is the people who love you most, the people who will always love you, forever and ever, no matter what.
Your statistical track record for decision-making is somewhat concerning.
I don't like running away," Michael; brought his eyes from the floor to mine. "I don't run, I don't hide, I don't cower, I don't beg, Cassie, because running and hiding and begging doesn't work. It never works.
Pretend for a moment," Lia told her, "that we're all very, very slow." "I'm not very good at pretending," Sloane told her seriously. "But I think I can do that.
Luckily for us, I've never met a bad idea I did not immediately embrace like the dearest of friends.
You hacked the FBI?" I said incredulously. "And Interpol," Sloane replied brightly. "And you'll never guess what I found.
Home isn't a place. Home is the people who love you most, the people who will always love you, forever and ever, no matter what.
Life in the fast lane," Michael's reply. "You have to adjust for inflation.
When you were a kid," he continued, his voice even and low, "Your mother taught you to observe people. She also taught you not to get attached.
Did you know that New Hampshire has more hamsters per capita than any other state?
You want power-either because you've already had a taste of it and want more, or because you've been made to feel powerless for too long.
My client," the lawyer said forcefully, "is pleading the Fifth.
You do what you can," he said, after seconds of silence had stretched to a minute, "to make sure your kids are safe. From the second they're born..." He stared at the lines of Nightshade's face, the ordinariness of it. "You want to protect them. From every skinned knee, from hurt feelings and punk kids who push smaller ones into the dirt, form the worst parts of yourself and the worst parts of this world.
You know that just because you ignore something, that doesn't make it go away.
You should try getting some sleep.” Sloane frowned. “Giraffes only sleep four and a half hours a day.” -Sloane
I'm older now," Dean said, testing out the possibility. "Wiser, better. I've waited so long, planned so long...." His voice was lower when he profiled, deeper. "Once upon a time, I am an amateur. Now, I'm an artist. Invincible. Unstoppable." "And this time," I said slowly, "you want credit.
You could be happy with three. Three is a good number. But in this life, in this world, three is not enough. You can't stop. You won't. If you don't have their attention yet, you will soon.
Don’t,” Judd told her sharply. “Don’t you ever apologize for being what you are.
Did you know?
- "All In" is the third book in The Naturals series, following "The Naturals" and "Killer Instinct."
- The novel is set largely in Las Vegas, where the Naturals investigate a series of public murders committed by different methods.
- Each victim in the case is found with a string of numbers tattooed on the wrist, concealing a code the team must crack.
- A parallel storyline reopens the long-cold case of Cassie Hobbes's murdered mother, whose body was never found.
- Author Jennifer Lynn Barnes holds advanced degrees in psychology and cognitive science, informing the series' focus on profiling.
- The book was published by Disney-Hyperion on November 3, 2015.
About Jennifer Lynn Barnes
More by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
All books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes →About the book
"All In" is the third novel in Jennifer Lynn Barnes's young-adult mystery series The Naturals, published by Disney-Hyperion in 2015. It follows Cassie Hobbes, a teenage profiler, and her fellow "Naturals"—gifted young people recruited by the FBI to solve cold cases using their unusual talents for reading people, detecting lies, and processing patterns. In this installment, the team is drawn to Las Vegas, where a string of brutal murders defies easy explanation: the killer uses a different method each time, the victims are killed in public yet never appear on security footage, and each body bears a string of numbers tattooed on the wrist.
Hidden in those numbers is a code, and as the Naturals work to unravel it, the case grows steadily more dangerous. Running alongside the central mystery is a more personal thread for Cassie—a break in the long-cold case of her mother's murder, whose body was never found. The novel balances its procedural puzzle with the tangled relationships and rivalries among the young profilers, giving significant attention to the socially awkward, statistically brilliant Sloane.
Like the rest of the series, "All In" blends serial-killer thriller conventions with the emotional dynamics of a found-family cast of teenagers. Barnes—who holds advanced degrees in psychology and cognitive science—grounds the profiling premise in her academic background, and the Naturals books have been popular fixtures of the YA mystery-thriller shelf, helping establish the author who would later write the bestselling Inheritance Games saga.
Key characters
- Cassie HobbesTeenage profiler and series protagonist whose mother's murder haunts her
- Dean ReddingFellow profiler with a troubled past and a bond with Cassie
- Lia ZhangNatural with a talent for detecting lies; confident and sharp-tongued
- Michael TownsendNatural who reads emotions; sarcastic and privileged
- Sloane TavishSocially awkward Natural with an exceptional memory and gift for statistics
Book details
- First published
- 2015
- Length
- 378 pages
- Reading time
- 6 hours
- Author
- Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- Genre
- Contemporary
- Goodreads rating
- 4.34 (206k ratings) →
Series & reading order
- 1 The Naturals
- 2 Killer Instinct
- 3 All In
- 4 Bad Blood
- 5 Dangerous Impulses
If you liked this, read…
- 1The Inheritance GamesAlso by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, blending puzzles, codes, and YA intrigue
- 2I Hunt KillersYA thriller about a teen using insider knowledge to track a serial killer
- 3Truly DeviousYA mystery with a teen sleuth unraveling a cold case
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