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.
Review:
Having read a lot of vampire books lately, I was looking forward to a change of pace and ‘Deadly Hemlock’ provided exactly that with a thrilling story about a society in which werewolves effectively live out in the open after the spread of lupine syndrome. Taking place in the small town of Hemlock, Kathleen Peacock has written a fast-paced and edge of your seat story which had me gripped from the word go.
I have to start by saying that this book has one of the best love triangles that I’ve come across in recent months. The main character Mackenzie, literally has two incredibly hot guys in love with her. What’s a girl to do?! Personally, I was torn between them too. Firstly there’s Kyle who has been Mackenzie’s closest friend since they were children and who is sweet and reliable. It was quite obvious from the start that although she kept professing that they were only friends, there was a lot more than that between them. Then there is Jason, who was her best friend Amy’s boyfriend, but who she feels an undeniable attraction to. Usually I’ll pick one guy or the other but in this case I loved them both and I enjoyed seeing her interactions with both characters. It will be very interesting to see how the love triangle develops between them.
There is of course much more to this book though than just romance. At the centre of the plot lies Mackenzie’s determination to find out what really happened to her friend Amy who was murdered by a werewolf. As she begins to investigate her friend’s death, she discovers a number of shocking secrets about the people she thought she knew. Multiple twists and turns meant that I was continually left guessing about who could be trusted and found it impossible to put the book down until I’d read just one more chapter.
Paranormal romance fans will love ‘Deadly Hemlock’. The idea behind the story is just so original and even if you’ve read a lot of werewolf stories already, I can promise you that you won’t have read anything quite like this.
The first in a trilogy, this book delivers mystery, romance and plenty of supernatural twists and will leave you wanting more!
This is next on my TBR shelf :) It looks fantastic. Prefer the US cover though, the UK doesn't look YA :)
ReplyDeleteJade at Ink Scratchers