Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock
Hemlock #1
Release Date: July 5, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Rating: Essential

So wrong for each other...and yet so right.

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. - Goodreads

Note: This is called Hemlock in the US. And probably in some other countries too.

Deadly Hemlock came so, so close to being an All Time Favourite read. Everything about it was fantastic, and I fell in love with it just a few chapters in. I think this book is one of those that I will want to reread once a year, like Vampire Academy, Soul Screamers and Harry Potter.

I loved the whole idea of the werewolf virus that was infecting people from all over the United States. The idea of deadly werewolves - as opposed to the fluffy, cuddly ones - was brilliant, and while not ALL werewolves were bad, some suffered from bloodlust which made them go a bit crazy. If discovered to be a werewolf, the person is shipped off to a rehab facility where they will stay until they die. This part was particularly chilling, because you hear rumours about what goes on in those camps.

I am dying to learn more about the lupine syndrome and the origins of it, and I hope that the author dives into that in the sequel. I also want to know more about the rehab facilities and what exactly goes on in those. This book did cover some of those aspects, but I am hoping both points will be fully fleshed out in the future!

The main character, Mac, was a badass who looked after her friends. She had, in my eyes, an awesome background that was so, so interesting. Again, I am wondering if we will learn more about that in the future?

There was a love triangle in this book involving two guys and the main character, and I didn't really mind this, despite Mac being totally ignorant for most of the book. I just wanted to hit her over the head with a Twilight novel and hope that she would get it. Alas, she did not, and she stayed clueless until the last few chapters. I am a little worried as to how the love triangle will play out in the next book, because I have a strong preference on which guy I want her to end up with and I am biting my nails in anticipation.

I was totally obsessing over this book while I was reading it and for a long while after. I couldn't put it down!  The action scenes were by far my favourite parts of the book. I had to keep rereading them because they were so thrilling and I couldn't breathe the first time around.

Overall, as you can see, I adored this book. With the badass characters, awesome bad guys and evil werewolves, it will definitely have a place on my favourites shelf even if I didn't rate it an All Time Favourite.

The Hemlock series: 

1. Hemlock

2. Untitled