Review: Hemlock

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



GoodReads Synopsis: 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

My Thoughts: I must come clean…I picked this one up only for the name. Didn’t read the blurb or any reviews, I just knew with a name like “Hemlock” it would be a book for me. And I’m so glad I didn’t read the blurb or I would have put it back down. I’ve read more Werewolf and Vampire books than you could shake a stake at! And I am bored with them, to say the least.

Thankfully I didn’t know this story was werewolf related. This was different in that everyone is aware werewolves exist…so while there was still the whole hiding you are a werewolf thing but it was for different reasons.

This was primarily a story about 4 best friends and what happens after one of them was murdered by a werewolf. How the three remaining friends dealt with the death, and the one friend who just won’t let it go. And it was the “who dunit” angle that really sucked me into the story. Peacock did a wonderful job of weaving together the mystery…I was able to figure out the who, once that one clue showed up, but never would have guessed the why(s).

Also, I appreciate that this didn’t feel like a typical beginning to a trilogy/series. This was a completely self-contained story. If no other books were to follow I could be satisfied with how this ended. Fortunately, it’s looking like there will be another book and I’m anxious to see where it takes us besides Denver…LOL.

Really enjoyable and hard to put down, this book is for anyone that likes a little paranormal romance and even those who don’t think they do. Enjoy!




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