Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

20 reviews

ameydireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Some people said that broken bones grew back stronger. On the good days, I told myself that was true, that each time the world tried to break me, I became a little less breakable. On the bad days, I suspected that I would always be broken, that parts of me would never be quite right—and that those were the parts that made me good at the job. Those were the parts that made this house and the people in it home."

The Naturals are back! In this book the FBI investigates a serial killer that is copying the MO of Dean’s father. This case provides a deeper insight into Dean’s character and his difficult history with his father. Honestly, his father is a POS—the devil incarnate who thrives on manipulation and mind games. As this case concerns Dean’s father, there is no stopping the Naturals from getting involved, much to the dismay of Agent Sterling. 

Agent Sterling, an FBI profiler, is an intriguing new character in this story. At first, her strictness and stern attitude made me unsure if I would like her, but this changed as her backstory unfolded. I understood her better and she quickly grew into one of my favourite characters. 

I’m not a big fan of love triangles, so I appreciated that this came to an end after they solved the case. I hope it doesn’t return! On a side note, I also hope that they will improve the security of the house the Naturals reside in. You ‘d expect they would have learned their lesson after their previous encounter with a serial killer, but apparently not.

Overall, it’s a thrilling and fast-paced read. The psychology of the criminal mind, particularly that of Dean’s father, was both interesting and deeply disturbing. We see what drives him and what his ulterior motives are. Additionally, the nerve-wracking ending where Cassie finds herself in a life-threatening situation with again another serial killer made sure I could not put this book down.

I’m excited to read the next books, especially now that the Naturals have permission to work on active investigations!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol

melist6's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Torture, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

The romance angle continued to be very cringe in this one, and the plot was predictable.  It was odd that towards the end it was laid out as a kind of twist when it felt so obvious that I was questioning if maybe it was circling into red herring territory but nope.

Serves it's purpose for being a book I don't care about in between other books I do.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This time we get a greater spotlight of Dean and his past. We also get betrayal, fights and many other tense and emotional things. And if you like school settings; This one is for you! This book is definitely more tense than the first one. And I would also say that this book is more character focused (and its relationships) than plot focused like we used to have in the first book. 

I really liked how the trauma was depictured in this book and that not everyone deals with it the same.

We have a character who hides its emotions and acts as if everything is fine (suppressing behaviour), one who has flashbacks and bottling its emotions, one that feels left out on everything and like the odd one out, guilt and remorse for something that wasn't in its control, one who can't control its jealousy and feeling abandoned and finally one who feels like a survivor even though it was a victim.

In this book we get lots more character insights and also backstory from those who we missed in the first book. If you couldn't decide yet whether or not you like a character or who your favourite might be, here is your perfect chance to get to know them all and get a picture of them. 

Fortunately we get less romance for this one, which is a relief for me, considering how annoying and just out of the theme/genre it was. Like we were in a crime scene but also had a romantic midlife crisis?? And their fighting also got less, at least in my opinion. The only romance aspect is near the end of this book. 

I wish I could say something good this time about Lia as I already mentioned in my other review that I had mixed feelings about her and that her natural lie detector isn't that much of any use (reasonsed in my other review). But this time she really went too far. Not only did she put words into another character's mouth, but she also didn't accept any apology and never saw herself as the one who acted up. She is so childish to not admit her own wrongdoings but poking at other's. 
(Also the reason I gave why her 'power' is useless turned out to be just as I thought to be a logic hole as she apparently can detect a lie even if the person was a psychopath who couldn't care less to lie)

The part with the whole apprentice thing was SO OBVIOUS. Also that there were more than one in the end, I even joked about this! I also joked that there might as well can be a third one! What is thisssss and why does the author out of now has the same thought pattern as me??? She didn't have that in the first book. But I think the part how Dean had his first own victim was a bit surprising. I mean when Dean said he watched I was already thinking that he was probably forced to also act, but I wasn't that sure and I wasn't sure on whom. It was also obvious with the letters Reading got as he already mentioned this before and the focus was on it anyway before we got our answer. Also what the... it was Webber? I even highlighted that name but was like: He barely got screen time he won't be it. Funny how he is the only surprising plot twist.

Cassie gets treated so unfair that it made me kinda pissed off. She takes the blame for everything, covers for the rest of the group and gets almost only a real punishment than just words and Lia didn't even say thanks and just got mad at her even, like what? Imagine taking all the blame even though none of it was your idea getting punishment and all you get is; It’s embarrassing. Really. If you stay here, you’ll get us all caught.'. She got caught not for the reason Lia even said and for a total different one and no one seemed to care.

The ending was shocking. And then the very very end was so exciting. Aaah finally!! They deserved it so much! 
Also the word 'All In' was already used for this book, so I'm curious to know what the title actually means for the next book in this series.

In case anyone needs this — Here are ALL in real life serial killers mentioned in this book:
1. Charles Manson
2. John Wayne Gacy
3. Ted Bundy
4. Jeffrey Dahmer


This book mentions adult/minor relationship in a sexual way. It is only briefly mentioned (very briefly!) but here is anyway the following chapters that mention it: Chapter 16 (the ending only), chapter 17, chapter 20 (only the ending), chapter 21 page 5-8
There is also other content than this in these chapters so try to just skip the crucial part in these and not the full chapter. 
Also; Each chapter after chapter 16 just repeats the same thing so there is no new info about it. The mention of it is only a few sentences and also quite vaguely. 


—————
By the way shout-out to my country's famous philospher Nietzsche who was mentioned in this book 😂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Suicide, Stalking, and Abandonment

abbiebonnyman's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Suicide

rachelr_reads309's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Stalking

lkristin2018's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

vibingandy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

jennifer lynn barnes has once again set up a love triangle and has me rooting for someone only for

that person to not be the one who gets the girl. this is the second time i’ve been bamboozled by her.

i appreciated the friendship growth but we didn’t get to explore it very much. the story was fun and easy to get addicted to. this book did make me pace my house because i have so many thoughts and feelings about these characters and this story, so i know it is definitely making an impact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Stalking, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore and Suicide

they are actively investigating a new series of murders that are tied to a previous serial killer, so know that death will continue to happen during the book as will discussion of the victims sometimes with in-depth detail.

xapoptosisx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My favourite genre found family that hunt serial killers together. Ahhh ok I love this series I can't wait to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism, Torture, Violence, and Stalking

rylin_marie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail