"Too young to party, just old enough to participate in federal investigations of serial murder." (Lia Zhang)
I don't know how The Naturals series went from being entertaining and forgettable to being extremely complex, fascinating and interesting.
It's no shock that I enjoy reading about the mystery and psychological aspects in The Natural series, but the plot in All In is clever, rich and complex. In All In, three people have been killed in three different casinos in three days and The Naturals race against the clock to find out who the serial killer is before they can commit another murder. There are so many different things going on in All In: the Fibonacci sequence, things from The Naturals and Killer Instinct that finally make sense (hello foreshadowing!) and a really terrifying cult.
In previous books in The Naturals series, I liked the main characters, but I didn't love them. In All In, I started warming up to them. Cassie, Lia, Sloane, Michael and Dean are all so different and although they get on each others nerves, they are loyal, protective and supportive. The characters are also more three-dimensional in All In. They are teenagers who can easily solve criminal cases and deal with death, but they are also human and flawed. They get angry, frightened and emotional and they make mistakes. I also love that I got to learn more about Sloane in All In. I always felt like she was the least developed character in the The Naturals series, but All In is her book. We also get to learn tidbits about Michael and Lia. I'm really interested in Lia's past!
And after that jaw-dropping ending in All In, I can't wait to read Bad Blood.
All In put The Natural series on another level. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!
"I've never met a bad idea I did not embrace like the dearest of friends." (Michael Townsend)