Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Title: Hemlock
Author: Kathleen Peacock
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Source: Bought
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Summary: 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 thought that I was totally done with werewolf books. Most books these days that involve the creatures are good but a tad bit boring. I can safely say that Hemlock is anything but boring. Hemlock manages to come up with something entirely new and spin that idea into a fantastically put together book. 


I wasn't a huge fan of Mac at the beginning of the book. She was a bit of a Debbie Downer but her best friend had just died so I couild cut her some slack. What really bugged me was that she kept having to be saved. But by the end of the book Mac was someone who I whole-heartily liked. She broke off a bit from her dependence from people, aka Jason and Kyle, and started to do her own thing. And I'm so happy that it was actually Mac that was able to figure out this mystery with a bit of good old-fashioned detective work! 


The boys in this one really didn't do much for me. I'm definitely on Team Kyle but at the moment I'm mostly on Team Anti-love triangle. Jason was a bit of a tool, in my opinion. Maybe he'll redeem himself though! 


But what I loved most about Hemlock was the werewolf aspect. I loved how being a werewolf wasn't some big secret kept from society but instead viewed as a taboo. This made for a great dynamic between werewolf haters and supporters. It doesn't hurt that the Trackers, an evil group of hunters, was thrown into the mix. 


Hemlock succeeds in both mystery and mythology, which are two huge things for me. It was lacking a bit in the character department but this was still a great, addictive read that I thoroughly enjoyed. 


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