Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: September 12, 2023
Format: Hardcover, 259 Pages
Genre: Occult Fiction
First Sentence: I never wanted to rent out the island house.
Blurb: Laney Kilpatrick has been renting her vacation home to strangers. The invasion of privacy gives her panic attacks, but it’s the only way she can keep her beloved Hemlock Island, the only thing she owns after a pandemic-fueled divorce. But broken belongings and campfires that nearly burn down the house have escalated to bloody bones, hex circles, and now, terrified renters who’ve fled after finding blood and nail marks all over the guest room closet, as though someone tried to claw their way out…and failed.
When Laney shows up to investigate with her teenaged niece in tow, she discovers that her ex, Kit, has also been informed and is there with Jayla, his sister and her former best friend. Then Sadie, another old high school friend, charters over with her brother, who’s now a cop.
There are tensions and secrets, whispers in the woods, and before long, the discovery of a hand poking up from the earth. Then the body that goes with it… But by that time, someone has taken off with their one and only means off the island, and they’re trapped with someone—or something—that doesn’t want them leaving the island alive. (GoodReads)
My Opinion: This book had me confused. I know the characters were adults, except for one, and her backstory came out of nowhere, but this book felt like a young adult. The horror / occult aspect never drew me in or scared me, and the whole premise was just lukewarm and missing that 10% of reality that makes a story ring towards possible.
What first drew me to this title was the author. I have been a fan of hers since I read the first Rockton book and found myself disappointed that her usual flair of storytelling, in my opinion, was missing from Hemlock Island.
Blurb: Laney Kilpatrick has been renting her vacation home to strangers. The invasion of privacy gives her panic attacks, but it’s the only way she can keep her beloved Hemlock Island, the only thing she owns after a pandemic-fueled divorce. But broken belongings and campfires that nearly burn down the house have escalated to bloody bones, hex circles, and now, terrified renters who’ve fled after finding blood and nail marks all over the guest room closet, as though someone tried to claw their way out…and failed.
When Laney shows up to investigate with her teenaged niece in tow, she discovers that her ex, Kit, has also been informed and is there with Jayla, his sister and her former best friend. Then Sadie, another old high school friend, charters over with her brother, who’s now a cop.
There are tensions and secrets, whispers in the woods, and before long, the discovery of a hand poking up from the earth. Then the body that goes with it… But by that time, someone has taken off with their one and only means off the island, and they’re trapped with someone—or something—that doesn’t want them leaving the island alive. (GoodReads)
My Opinion: This book had me confused. I know the characters were adults, except for one, and her backstory came out of nowhere, but this book felt like a young adult. The horror / occult aspect never drew me in or scared me, and the whole premise was just lukewarm and missing that 10% of reality that makes a story ring towards possible.
What first drew me to this title was the author. I have been a fan of hers since I read the first Rockton book and found myself disappointed that her usual flair of storytelling, in my opinion, was missing from Hemlock Island.
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