Name: No Saints in Kansas
ISBN: 9781616956837

Amy Brashear

This gripping debut novel reimagines Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and the brutal murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959 that inspired his work. 5 1/2 x 8 5/16.

No Saints in Kansas

Mariel Adrianna de la Garza

It's fine - I was able to read in one evening. Expect more YA vibes than dark/true-crime ones. It's not what I was expecting from the cover description, but overall a pleasant read.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from KidLitExchange in return for my opinion. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5

Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller

Recommended Age: 15+ (murder, high school drama, and violence)

Pages: 320

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Synopsis: A gripping reimagining of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and the brutal murders that inspired it

November is usually quiet in Holcomb, Kansas, but in 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. Suspicion falls on Nancy Clutter’s boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, the last one to see them alive.

New Yorker Carly Fleming, new to the small Midwestern town, is an outsider. She tutored Nancy, and (in private, at least) they were close. Carly and Bobby were the only ones who saw that Nancy was always performing, and that she was cracking under the pressure of being Holcomb’s golden girl. The secret connected Carly and Bobby. Now that Bobby is an outsider, too, they’re bound closer than ever.

Determined to clear Bobby’s name, Carly dives into the murder investigation and ends up in trouble with the local authorities. But that’s nothing compared to the wrath she faces from Holcomb once the real perpetrators are caught. When her father is appointed to defend the killers of the Clutter family, the entire town labels the Flemings as traitors. Now Carly must fight for what she knows is right.

Okay so I’ve not read Capote’s In Cold Blood… but is it anything like this book? Let me explain: this book was okay but the synopsis of it had me wanting more than what I got. I liked that the book had really short chapters because it really made me read it faster. I like how we jumped into the action of the book and I felt that for the most part the writing was fantastic and it sucked you into the book.

However, I didn’t like that the characters had so little back story to them and that there were a lot of characters that easily were forgotten. The main character was wrote really bad. She kept making the same mistakes over and over again and it became really irritating after awhile and it made her very unlikable, but she was already unlikable with some of her other qualities. Lastly, the ending was way too quick and neat for this type of book. 

Verdict: I feel like this book was okay, but it could have been better.

No Saints in Kansas

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