Hemlock Island

A Novel

De: Kelley Armstrong

Narrado por: Angela Dawe

A standalone horror novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2023 Kelley Armstrong (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A tech mogul gifts his ex-wife their perfect vacation home on a remote island. You'd think this is a dream come true–but this is a Kelley Armstrong story! With creepy twists on every page and a unique horror element, it's got an ending you'll never see coming."–Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor

“With Hemlock Island, Kelley Armstrong stakes a solid claim in the horror genre. A truly disturbing tale filled with complex characters, weird twists, genuine chills, and deep emotions. Highly recommended!”–Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of Kagen the Damned and Patient Zero

“Armstrong is a master storyteller. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, I was wrong—and I LOVED it! Also, I will never, ever look at wind chimes the same way…”–S.A. Barnes, author of Dead Silence

Loved!!!!

Narration and story was fabulous! I really enjoyed this book. Was the perfect escape from the day to day for a little while!

Phenomenal Scary Story

This is a great love story and a great horror story. This is a definite must read.

Hemlock island review

It was ok until the ending struggled to complete this book liked her other books better

Not my fave

This was good, you know KA is an amazing writer. The characters were great. But it was a bit cheesy. Am I going to read more KA, duh!! But it just wasn’t my favorite story.

Delightfully Creepy

I was completely unaware of Hemlock Island until Melissa Marr, an auto-buy author for me, recommended it yesterday and described it as "gloriously unsettling". Because I know Melissa can deliver creepy and twisted like no other, I instantly went looking on Audible for it. She was not wrong.

On that note, trigger warnings for talk of rape and lots of gore. Also of note, if you do not like books with supernatural elements, stay away from this one.

This was the first book I've read by Kelley Armstrong and based on Hemlock Island, it won't be my last. While the book relies heavily on a failed marriage and childhood trauma to give us an emotional connection to the characters, it's very well written and I felt an instant connection with Laney.

I'm not going into detail about Hemlock Island because I do not want to spoil anything. Just know that it delivered emotion (both past and present), it delivered suspense, and though it did take awhile to get there, it was genuinely creepy and I think it would make one helluva film.

I recommended the Hemlock Island audiobook to a horror loving friend before I started it yesterday. With about an hour left, I told him I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong about certain aspects of the big reveals. I suspected a few things that were wrong and stuff like that makes me happy. I also told him it wasn't scary, but creepy. I almost immediately had to take that back. The last hour of this audiobook was a lot. If that sh*t was happening to me, I would've been terrified. TERRIFIED. Gloriously unsettling, indeed. Thanks for the recommendation, Melissa.

Considering people have gone there in their reviews, I can't not say something about this. Hemlock Island wasn't "too woke" despite what other reviews state. Biracial relationships are very common and being queer and/or gender fluid is not a new thing, folks. We're just not hiding it anymore and we're FINALLY getting representation in the books, TV shows, and movies we love. Representation matters.

Disappointed

I am a huge fan of all Kelley Armstrong series but this was almost like a teenage horror story. It ended well but it was lacking the authors usual flare.

Not my favorite

I love Kelly armstrong and the way she writes however this one fell short for me. I liked the horror aspect of the story and it was well written but there were some parts that completely changed the topic with little segway and some felt drawn out. I could have done with less of trying to make it a romance and while I liked the characters I felt like the ending should have been different.

A really creepy horror romance!!

This was definitely a horror romance! It got pretty creepy and at times cringeworthy slasher. I enjoyed it and the characters very much. Being trapped on an island with no way off, with people dying and then rising, was so creepy, and the concept of what was happening was shocking and intriguing!!

The romance aspect wasn’t front and center of the plot, but really added to the story, along with friendships and family.

The narrator did a really good job of capturing the creepiness of the story!

Everything you expect from Kelley Armstrong

I have listened to all of this author’s Casey Duncan books, and all the Cainsville novels. Neither of them are horror - one is real world, the other supernatural. I like scary books to an extent - they are a form of mystery, right? But I do have a limit, and this one was not so bad I was afraid I might be inviting evil into my life. There is NO torture of animals, (which I will never listen to).

Someone wrote it was far-fetched and not realistic. It IS a novel, but no reason to think it might not be possible. Hopefully, most of us will never encounter what these characters do, but there are so many stories of various supernatural incidents from all kinds of people that I find no issue with the possibility. Someone else wrote it had a bad ending. Happy endings are not a given in life, but if you want a book that is completely average day-to-day life experiences and has a pretty bow wrapping it up at the end, there are books like that. In this world we live in, there are strange things that are not always explainable. And real life is full of compromises - and worse. Classic scary books have weirdness that most of us have not experienced. I have never read a review for “The Haunting of Hill House” or “Burnt Offerings”, etc. that said, “completely unrealistic”, or “I didn’t like the ending”. It’s of the horror genre.

The family and friendship relationships in this book are strong. They feel real - the kind of relationships we would all love to have. I did not find there to be a major gender issue - mentioned but not dwelled on, and there was no sex in this book. I liked the characters who were decent people. Nobody likes the bad characters - we aren’t supposed to.

I listen to so many books that sometimes I don’t remember if I have heard them or not. That will not happen with this book. I marked it as a favorite.

AMAZING!!!

Such a captivating story. It was so well written, it was like a movie playing in my head