Jaime's Review of Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Hemlock

Kathleen Peacock

Hardcover: 416 pages

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Collins)

ISBN: 0062048651

Source: ARC from Publisher

Rating: Liked

From Goodreads.
Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

Let me start this review by saying I do not like werewolf books and normally I wouldn’t have read this but, the idea of werewolves being known made me intrigued and I have had a few friends that have said this was the best book they’ve read so far this year. Well that being said I still don’t like werewolf books; and I would have rated this a so-so but, the story itself was well written and if I imagined it without the werewolves as strictly a murder mystery with a paranormal aspect to it I’d have to say I quite enjoyed it.

One of the many things I did like about this book was there was a sort of love triangle but the MC Mac was so oblivious to it I found it endearing I mean this chick was totally clueless it was pretty funny. The story had some really good twists and turns but I did find them to be predictable I figured out who the “killer” was in a sense about halfway through. One of my favorite characters in the book wasn’t even a main character he was more of a sideline guy until the end. I did think that Mac was a pretty cool heroine she fought for what she believed in and I swear this chick thrives on danger because she was always in a sticky situation. I would have liked to have seen more on one of the main boys, Kyle, I really liked him but I think I would have like to have known more about him. The other Jason I personally thought was a jerk but whatever. Like I said overall the story was good and if there’s a sequel I’ll read it because I like Kathleen’s writing.

I chose a passage with my favorite guy Trey because he makes me smile. There’s a word missing because of spoilery.

“We’re not moving until you tell me what’s going on.”

I shook my head. Given how close Trey had come to ……, I wasn’t sure standing up to him was the smartest idea. But I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t tell Trey the things that were going through my head—not when I might be wrong.

I summoned every ounce of stubbornness anyone had ever accused me of having. “I can’t tell you anything until I talk to Amy’s parents, so, the way I see it, you have two choices. You can play keep-away with the keys and I’ll take my chances trying to walk the rest of the way, or you can come with me and wait while I talk to them.”

“And if I don’t like either choice?” Trey glared at me, waiting for me to back down.

My heart jackhammered in my chest and I broke out in a cold sweat, but I didn’t look away. By Hemlock standards, Trey was tough. But I hadn’t been raised by Hemlock standards.

After three minutes, when I still showed no signs of backing down, Trey muttered a string of curses. 

“You know, sometimes I think you might actually be as tough as you think you are.” He moved his hand away so I could start the car. “You are going to tell me what all of this is about after you talk to them.” It was an order, not a request.

I started the car without comment.

Fans of the werewolf genre will love this book!

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