August 16, 2012

Review: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Hemlock (Hemlock #1)

Author: Kathleen Peacock
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Pages: 416
Source: ARC from Publisher

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends.

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 boy-friend, 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 spell-binding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

Review: I honestly had no expectations going into this book! I wasn't even sure I wanted to read this book to be honest. I won an entire box of ARC's from the publisher so I mostly gave away the extras to other Bloggers, but I did give one to one of my besties (who doesn't blog, but does read a lot like I do). She then read it and told me that she liked it so that gave me the kick to read it, and I'm glad I did! Because I really enjoyed it! I was immediately pulled into Hemlock and it didn't let me go! The whole thing with the Trackers showing up and the info that came into the light earl regarding Amy's case was really interesting! That definitely had me hooked the most! After finding out those simple things that made a world of difference in Amy's case I was intrigued to find out if it really was a random wolf attack or something more! Mac definitely wouldn't give up until she knew the truth about Amy's death and that really inspired me! She had doubts after reading the police report and she vowed to find out the actual truth and not let Amy's case get swept under the "Wolf Attack" rug if it wasn't meant to be there. Mac was just so admirable! First of all, she took on investigating Amy's murder! Second, she was determined to help her other two friends with each of their problems as well! And helping Kyle and Jason was no easy task at many times either. 

Right from the beginning of the book I thought the werewolf problem was blown out of hand! My instincts just told me that there was something wrong with the picture painted about them after Amy's murder. Kyle... I liked him from the beginning! I liked him even more when he revealed what he was to Mac! That piece of information brought them closer, which led them to explore their feelings for each other. I liked that, because they really did have feelings for each other and they needed a push to realize it! I loved seeing Mac and Kyle together, like together together, or even just hanging out or investigating! Those two are just great together no matter what they were doing! Jason... I wasn't the biggest fan of his, mostly because of him wanting to join the Trackers. I mean I get it, his girlfriend was murdered by a werewolf. It didn't mean he had to go off joining the biggest Anti-Wolf group around! He defended the Trackers like they never did anything wrong, but was to blind even when others were starting to see it that they were in the wrong and doing bad things until they actually took someone he cared about. Its like he was so wrapped up in the Tracker life and getting revenge that he couldn't see the truth and someone he cared about had to be put in danger just for him to snap out of it. I mean, I opened up a little to him at the very end for what him and Mac were about to do, but throughout the book before that I didn't really like him much, even with the revelation he gave to Mac. I was however extremely pleased with what happened to the Trackers! They had it coming for what they did!

5 Stars!