This book was a little confusing to me, the characters were different and it felt like they didn’t connect with the story very well. The book was a tad bit too slow for my liking. The story was different, and felt a little choppy to me as well.

I received an ARC of Not The Killing Kind by Maria Kelson in return for my honest review.
This book is the first I've read by this author, but I'm planning on reading more of her work. I
really enjoyed this book, because it held my interest from page one. The plot was very intriguing,
and the descriptions in the book helped draw me into the story. This book poses the question of just
exactly how much will you do, and how far will you go to protect your child?
Boots Marez runs a school that she helped build, with assisting undocumented people learn English
as well as other things they need to know to get by. She also is raising her 18 year old son Jaral, that she
adopted when he was 12. Jaral has been acting differently lately, more secretive, less patient, but Boots chalks
it up to his being a young man trying to find his way in the world.
Boots gets a frantic call from Jaral and when she goes to him, she finds one of her former students
tied up on the floor dead. Boots tells Jaral to run, however, he is eventually caught and jailed.
As Boots tries to make sense of what's going on things just aren't adding up. How deeply is Jaral involved?
Why has he been lying to her? The more Boots learns, the more she is exposing people who don't want
to be exposed, the more danger she is in.
Some of the parents at the school are trying to get her thrown out of her position, they fear that Jaral is guilty,
that Boots will bring the authorities after them. Everywhere she turns, things get more dangerous, until the shocking
conclusion that you write see coming!
#NetGalley

This was a great debut thriller novel, it worked with everything that I wanted and glad I was hooked from the first page. Maria Kelson has a great writing style and that the characters were everything that I was looking for. I thought it was a great show to the mothers and how everything goes with that strength. I enjoyed the thriller element and left me wanting to read more.

An enjoyable literary thriller that explores the dynamics of a mother and her adopted son as they fight for the truth after a shocking death devastates their community, Not the Killing Kind balances the complexities of a conspiracy thriller with the heartfelt warmth between our lead heroine and her prickly, loveable son. For the most part it carries itself on its propulsive energy - barring some sag in the middle - but the plotting is sharp and Kelson's cast of characters are a joy to read, even when you're cursing them out.

This book felt a little choppy to me. There was a definite lack of flow, and I did not really connect with any of the characters. A lot of the choices that the characters were making also did not make sense even in a fiction setting.

I couldn’t put it down and loved every second of it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.