Hemlock
Kathleen Peacock
Katherine Tegen Books
May 8th 2012
Young Adult | Fantasy
Werewolf
Katherine Tegen Books
May 8th 2012
Young Adult | Fantasy
Werewolf
Official Blurb -
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.
This is not your average werewolf novel. Perhaps average is changing and this is just the beginning. I kept thinking this book was a mix of The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting or Wake by Lisa McMann and Between by Jessica Warman with a generous side order of werewolf. Yet, I still feel like there is one more book mixed into the whole, maybe it is a dash of dystopian.
The title wasn't as cool as I was originally thinking. It just ended up being after the name of the little town. I was hoping it would have some awesome mythical significance. Or even be applied as a poison to werewolves. Is the next book going to be called Denver or one of the nearby spots?
The book read more as a contemporary than anything else. Mac is completely oblivious to how she effects those around her and how those around her truly feel. All she ever does is seek to be best friends with everyone. Then one day her best girl friend ends up dead and page by page we watch as she realizes nothing around her is as it seems. Even she isn't as innocent as she believed in the death of her friend. Throw in a side order of werewolf and psycho and you have this book in a basket. I just wasn't that thrilled. It left me with a longing for more fantastical worlds. I wanted more emotion and more werewolf. Plus, the whole "I will solve the case myself" thing was just done a bit too juvenile. Really? You are going to catch the crazy werewolf bare handed?
It was still a really great read and kept me up half the night. Plus it reads really easily and for all its four hundred pages passes quickly. There aren't dull moments in this book. The ending, though predictable, will shock you.
Content:
Main Character Age: 17
