Krista Reviews: Kathleen Peacock's - "Hemlock"

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.

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.

Hardcover, 400 pages  Published May 8th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books  ISBN  0062048651 (ISBN13: 9780062048653)

I like books that have flawed characters. The main character in Hemlock, is highly flawed. She’s had a bad childhood and has a group of friends that are far from perfect. At this time in their lives they are not only dealing with a werewolf scare in their town, but their best friend Amy has just recently been killed by one.  Each of these characters are dealing with the death of Amy in their own way. So far, it seems that Kyle is the one who is the least focused on what happened to Amy and more about the problems in his own life with his old and new girlfriends. Both Mac and Jason are emotionally troubled in their personal lives, as well as with the new loss of Amy. When the Trackers come into town to rid them of the “dangerous werewolves”,  Mac, Kyle,and Jason are at odds with their opinions on the Trackers being there and taking over.

The main character, Mac, is really put through a lot physically as well. She seems to be the heart of all the drama happening in town and whenever something bad happens (except when Amy dies,) she seems to be right there in the middle of it. She is continually getting herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and the lead Tracker, Derby locks in on her almost immediately.

There are some unique things in the book that make it different. Mac still talks to Amy in her dreams, but through these dreams the reader gets clues to what Mac is searching for. The dream sequences are incredibly informative and give us an insight to who Amy was as well. So even though her character is deceased, the reader still gets a very good look at the person she was (through Mac’s eyes anyway). She is still very much a part of the story, and a constant character throughout.

The other thing  that stands out is how much of a role Mac’s father plays into her daily life. She bases most of her thoughts and actions around how she was raised even though she has not lived with him for years.

It has been awhile since I have read a book that got me thinking as much as this one did. I was mesmerized with how much I could associate with the characters. Despite being a highly paranormal story, in a world setting that I will never live in, the characters, the actions and emotions were all so relatable and understandable.

There were moments that shocked me. I was not expecting the story to get so dark, but loved every minute of it. I found that there was not a moment when I was not reading, that I was not thinking of the story and what could possibly happen next.

Even though there are two boys and a girl and some romantic aspects to the story, I would not say that this story has a love triangle. It’s a different take on relationships and secrets and friendship that some could interpret as a triangle, but I don’t label this story that way. Hemlock is unique with it’s highly flawed characters, a town full of secrets and a dangerous person around every corner. Talk about not knowing who to trust!