Oooh, this went in some weird unexpected places!

Hemlock Island has been Laney's happy place but she hasn't been able to afford it after her divorce. She resorts to renting the secluded island to travellers looking to disconnect from the world. After strange ritualistic occurrences on the island, Laney goes to discover what is going on and it's more than she could have ever expected.

This was a great horror/thriller with a lot of twists and secrets. Kelley Armstrong wrote a really fun and creepy locked room mystery and I found the characters to be super engaging and interesting. You never really know the characters intentions and, that paired with the unsettling and grisly scenes really puts you on edge!

Just strap in and enjoy the ride because it's a wild one!

This book is a good reminder not to f**k with nature.

I can’t say I was totally expecting the paranormal/supernatural aspect (though with a KA book I don’t know why I was surprised). It was way freakier and gorier than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t hate that it was, but be warned if you aren’t a big fan of horror and/or gore.

There were so many twists and secrets that it was sometimes hard to keep up. At the same time, I couldn’t stop reading. I was hooked into the mystery of what was happening and had to know what was actually going on.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Laney is a home-owner and loves her house on the out-of-the-way Hemlock Island where there's no internet, no cell service, and most of all, peace to spend her days writing if she chooses to do so. Unfortunately, after the tragic death of her sister leaves her with heaps of medical debt and her niece Madison who has eyes on college, she can't afford to keep the house after the pandemic ruins her marriage to the wealthy Kit. Her only choice? To rent out the beautiful hideaway to people wanting to spend their lockdowns in luxury.

When Laney gets a call from an extremely upset guest who declares that blood's in the closet, she's exhausted with what appears to be another thing in a long series of pranks that have befallen her beloved home. She packs up Madison and heads out to Hemlock to investigate where she's met by Kit, she's met by old friends and enemies and then things start to go pear-shaped.

Disappearances. Weird hex symbology. Blood. Bits of hair. Visions. Murder?

I really thought I knew what this book was when I checked into it, but was pleasantly surprised by how it evolved from what felt like a Riley Sager-esqe thrillery revenge story into something dark and folkloric and frankly, just plain weird.

Definitely some quibbles, though. I think the pacing, the way the plot was fleshed out - it was all a little bit wonky. There were a ton of flashbacks to Laney's past and her relationships with each individual that showed up on the island. I also felt like a queer relationship was a bit shoehorned in and wasn't exactly relevant to anything other than existing for the sake of it. The real story was between both Laney and Kit, then Laney and brother and sister Garrett and Sadie.

There was SO much backstory and it felt like the actual plot/what was happening wasn't foreshadowed in a way that you'd really expect to draw the reader in. We definitely got a story, but the real stuff felt like it started to happen closer to the 50% mark. Because of that, I will say that a lot of this felt a bit weird/convoluted, but it was a pretty interesting time despite that, perfect for spooky season.

It does ALSO need to be said that there's a pretty traumatic discussion of rape that came out of left field that I felt was kind of unnecessary and I REALLY didn't like.

This book definitely started with a bang and entered supernatural territory quickly! Laney receives a call in the middle of the night that there is blood and nail marks in one of the closets at her Hemlock Island home and that’s her cue to pack up and go to her beloved space. When she gets there, she and her niece are not the only people present. Kit, Laney’s ex-husband, and his sister are there along with Laney’s ex-friend, Sadie, and her brother. Along with the terror that lurks on the island, there are some serious secrets that need to come to light.

I enjoyed this story so much. The end was definitely unexpected! There were some parts the were unbelievable but made sense for the story. There were also parts that I wanted to speed along; lots of dialogue in the middle. All in all I do think this is a great horror story.

Laney Kilpatrick rents her vacation home to strangers which for her gives her panic attacks because she thinks it's an invasion of privacy but for her to keep this beloved island this was the only one. After receiving a call saying that there is blood and claw marks all over the guest room closet Laney goes to investigate this with her niece in tow. What she didn't expect once she got there was her ex Kit and his sister Jayla and then Sadie her old high school friend shows up with her brother. What really is going on? Why did all these people show up? This book will have you turning the pages till the very end. On Hemlock Island their is tension, secrets, whisper in the woods and eventually a hand poking up from the earth. Come and Investigate in the book and find out what's really happening... The only downside for me with this book was how the dialogues tone was more YA then an adult conversation. Positive's for this book were the spooky vibes during the whole book, easy read, great mystery and how it kept you guessing till the very end. Overall I would recommend this book to other readers. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ebook.

Rental house on Lake Superior - with creepiness and an Ex and strange things (blood in places where there shouldn’t be blood) happening! What more do you want in a page-turner?! Although high on the creepy factor, the book was a fun read that will keep you reading. Was it filled with complex characters? No. Was it in any way believable? No. But who cares - it was fun.

3.5 ⭐️

Kelly Armstrong is one of my favourite authors I’ve discovered in the last two years and I’ve definitely enjoyed her Haven’s Rock and A Rip Through Time series .

I loved the first half of this book and really thought I was headed for a 4-5 ⭐️ read ; but then the story took a turn I wasn’t really expecting and isn’t necessarily my favourite genre - paranormal/ horror . It was still good but not what I was expecting - a locked room type of whodonit on an island .

Yeah this story was unbelievable - literally someone is killing and leaving blood in your house and you don't call the authorities. Oh its nothing but harmless pranks! Then there is a murder, and you are on your paddle board worried about trash in the sea. The character rambled on about trash in the sea and how awful it is - SOMEONE IS DEAD and SOMEONE IS MISSING!

Which was it an overactive imagination? Interlopers? Supernatural? And, how did the guests call you from the island but when you arrive there is no phone to report a murder? What?!?!?

This book was a hot mess for me.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary.

Hemlock Island was the vacation home of Laney’s dreams. That is, until a pandemic-era divorce led her to rent out her vacation home to vacationing strangers. Then, suddenly, her dream became a nightmare.

After strange and eerie happenings cause the current renters to leave abruptly, Laney goes to the island to investigate, followed by a group of friends and family, each with their own concerns and agendas.

Once there, they find themselves abruptly trapped, and things quickly devolve, in ways that seem to defy explanation. The story gets more and more claustrophobic and the pace frenetic from here on out.

If I were a nail-biter, my nails would be long gone after this read. The story goes a bit off the rails at the end, but what a ride!

Thank you Kelley Armstrong, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a great horror for October if you are into gothic tales with some gore and bloody surprises. There was a lot of action but also some slower parts where the characters and the drama between them all was revealed. The slower parts were too much for me but I was there for the action. I loved the whole locked island atmosphere to the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC

In love with an island that she cannot afford to keep after her divorce, Laney is forced to rent out her home. Then renters start noticing broken belongings and campfires that nearly burn down the house which escalate to bloody bones, hex circles. Laney goes back to investigate with her friends and family and then becomes trapped by someone - or something - that doesn't want them leaving the island alive.

Horror is not usually my genre, but the cover and description of this book intrigued me. It had a good plot that had me thinking who or what is causing all of these things to happen. And there was also a good subplot running through so we can get the backstory of all the other characters on the island.

I did find a lot of repetitive phrases, especially with her inner thoughts. She just kept repeating things to herself throughout the book.

There is slow-building suspense throughout the book with horror scenes throw in here and there. It was a quick read and would recommend to anyone who likes supernatural/paranormal type suspense.

I have read many of this authors books. This is the first book in the horror genre. This book was very good. I liked the idea of a ‘haunted’ island. The island was lush and full of beautiful places. When Laney arrives on the island to investigate strange happenings, she becomes embroiled in a mystery. The weather starts to turn, her fiend disappears and her ex husband shows up to help we. As you read the book things become obvious; someone is doing shady things on the island. Then it is left up to the people on the island and Laney begins to understand the what being a caretaker entails. This book has folk lore vibes and was a really good book.

Kelley Armstrong's Hemlock Island is a standalone story that takes place mostly on a place called Hemlock Island which is apparently located on Lake Superior. Laney Kilpatrick, an English teacher and debut thriller author who is recently divorced during the pandemic and grieving her sister who lost her battle to cancer no raising a 16-year old, has been renting her vacation home on Hemlock Island 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 arrives at the house with her niece Madison, she finds her ex-husband, Kit (a tech company CEO), Kit's sister (a counselor and Laney's ex-best friend, Jayla), their mutual friend, Sadie, and Sadie's cop brother, Garrett, who Laney has some unexplained irritation towards.

There are tensions and secrets, whispers in the woods, and before long, the discovery of a hand poking up from the earth. Laney believes her ex has formed a relationship with Sadie who later disappears and returns looking like a model from the Walking Dead. Then Laney discovers the body of one of her caretakers who has been around before Kit bought if as a wedding present for Laney. To make matters worse, the tension between the friends get even more sharper for something that happened when Laney was 15. Something that tore apart best friends.

Just imagine that you are stuck on an Island in the middle of a large lake and all of your transportation off the island has gone up in smoke. Was it intentional? Then imagine that someone on the island doesn't want anyone to leave so they create even more tension where nobody can trust anyone else. Secrets are revealed. People will die. The question is who will survive, who was responsible for up to 5 murders, and why Laney is being targeted for breaking some kind of oath.

*Thoughts* I flipped a coin between 3.5 and 4 for my rating. The story isn't bad. In fact, I think most horror aficionados will flip through the book quickly until they discover the secrets of Hemlock Island and Laney's past. Seriously though, this story quickly becomes a convoluted whodunit when old friends become trapped, and their only way out is just to survive and figure out the island’s secret, as well as digging through the crap of broken relationships based on each.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. The plot summary gave "And Then There Were None" vibes: six people show up to a remote island to investigate mysterious happenings and find themselves trapped...with a murderer, or something else? As it turned out, this book was as much horror as thriller.

Laney has been renting out her remote, island home to cover her high, post-divorce expenses. The series of renters have proven to be pains in the ass--intruding into her private spaces, damaging her property, and damaging the island--but Laney can't afford to keep Hemlock Island any other way. When one set of renters complains about blood stains and gouge marks in a closet, Laney decides to check it out. She is joined (unwittingly, in some instances) by her ex, his sister and Laney's friend, another former friend of Laney's and her brother, and Laney's niece. While the group initially assess the damage as a prank pulled by a former renter, strange happenings and disappearances start to raise the possibility that something supernatural is at work.

A lot of this book involves people running around the island in pairs, sometimes without reason. (Advice Laney could have used: don't take off into a wooded area in the middle of the night without wearing shoes.) I found, though, that the pairings always made sense for the plot, so even if it got a bit repetitive, these island searches still moved the story forward. The novel also features some real horrors, beginning with severed limbs and getting creepier from there. I found that once I started, I couldn't put the book down--read the whole thing in an evening and had to turn on all the lights to deal with the unsettling feelings I had while reading.

Great choice if you are looking for a creepy, cinematic horror novel this fall.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book. Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong releases September 12th, 2023.


Horror mixed with thriller. Perfect Spooky Read, and Kelley Armstrong never fails to disappoint! If you don’t have this book on your TBR, you will be missing out on something great.

Imagine having your own island. Sounds cool, right? Now imagine bad things happening on your island. Not so cool. Now imagine death and dismemberment and being stranded with no way to escape.

That’s it. That’s the plot. And it is G O O D. I was captivated from the very first page, even when I wasn’t reading I was thinking about this book. It made my skin crawl and I found myself wanting to look over my shoulder as I read.

I almost gave this book a perfect 5 star rating, but I ended up going down to a 4 start based on the ending. It didn’t feel satisfying to me, but I would still 100% recommend this book to everyome!

This was a spooky good book. It’s fast paced, a bit gruesome and perfect for horror fans. I enjoyed it, it reminded me of some books by other horror writers, like Richard Laymon and Stephen King. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Kelley Armstrong is a love-or-hate author for me, with more hashmarks in the "love" column. Hemlock Island, unfortunately, is going to end up in the other one, though from the blurb it should fulfill my every domestic thriller dream.

A divorced teacher with a complicated family is forced to rent out her private island in Air BNB fashion. Not surprisingly, this leads to issues with renters. But when she is forced out to the island after vacationers find blood in a closet, things go downhill pretty quickly. Laney has suspected people of playing tricks on her before and is certain that is still the problem. Until the dead bodies appear. And they can still move.

Yeah, so it goes there. First, you have a bunch of idiots on an island, determined that a severed hand is a "joke" and that they should thus go in search of the prankster, who they've decided must be a party interested in purchasing the island for themselves. Because leaving Satanic symbols and dismembered body parts is what all the grownups are doing these days when they don't get what they want.

Fast forward, we are still getting "hex circles" and "zombies", and now friends are getting caught out in a storm, not to be let back in just in case they are also now "reanimated". Laney's niece is bitten but cared for. Two others are bitten but left out in the storm. Eventually, Laney, her ex-best-friend, ex-husband, and niece finally figure out the real problem (which honestly, is surprising only in its utter ridiculousness) in between bouts of working out their relationship issues. Laurell K. Hamilton would be proud of this one.

I love the horror-movie aspects of the current thrillers. I love fantasies involving the paranormal and supernatural. Hell, I even enjoy Laurell Hamilton. But this book just asked for too much suspension of disbelief. I spent as much time rolling my eyes as using them on reading.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

In order to keep money in her pockets, writer Laney Kilpatrick rents out her home on Hemlock Island to help her care for her niece. This property given to her by her now ex-husband is her dream home and she can't stand the invasion of privacy from the rental guests. When occult occurrences begin happening on the island, is it kids playing a harmless prank, or something more sinister?

A phone call in the middle of the night from a guest in the house suggests kids playing harmless pranks, so Laney and her niece drive out to investigate. Kit, Laney's ex husband shows up with his sister, as does a mutual friend and her brother, a cop. When a body is found, and the only way off the island blocked, they need to band together to make it off the island alive.

This suspenseful book kept me awake at night and gave me nightmares in a good way. I found myself on the edge of my seat dying to know what happens next and sad when I finished the book. Kelley Armstrong has another masterpiece on her hands and I will be recommending this book to everyone I know,

The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking... this needs to be a movie! So good! Lots of plots twists that aren't annoying and I liked that I could keep guessing what could happen next. Fun summer read!

Thank you to the publisher and #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Hemlock Island is one of my favorite books of 2023.

In this novel, Laney is the owner of the home of her dreams, a wedding gift from her now ex-husband. Too bad she can't afford to maintain it. She has to rent it out in order to pay for its expenses. She receives a call from one of the renters that there is blood and scratch marks on one of the closets. But this isn't the first time she's found something eery at the house. When she visits to check it out, she finds a hand sticking out of the ground and a body. What can be going on at her beloved home?

I loved this book so much. I felt like I was watching a scary movie; it was the perfect read for spooky season. There were plenty of thrills and frights, and I loved the addition of supernatural elements.

I also really liked the cast. Laney's ex-husband, her niece, her two ex best friends, and an old friend's older brother join Laney to check out what has been going on at the home. I loved learning the history Laney had with everyone and seeing them work together to survive.