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Hemlock Island

By: Kelley Armstrong
Narrated by: Angela Dawe
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Publisher's summary

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
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Critic reviews

"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

Dear Listener,

What was the inspiration behind this story?
" Hemlock Island is set in a remote summer house, which the owner has been forced to rent as a vacation property. My inspiration was…well, that I also have a remote summer house, and I am always being asked why I don’t rent it out when we aren’t there. This story is my answer. When our kids were young, we often rented cottages, many filled with everyday horror stories whispered in notes desperately pleading with renters not to do things like light bonfires in the wooden gazebo. Being a writer, I couldn’t help but imagine all the more sinister things people could do alone on your remote property, deep in the wilderness. And that sparked the idea for Hemlock Island, where rental issues start small and ordinary…and escalate into everything I could imagine going terribly, horrifyingly wrong." - Kelley Armstrong, writer of Hemlock Island

What listeners say about Hemlock Island

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Loved!!!!

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

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Phenomenal Scary Story

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

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Hemlock island review

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

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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.

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Enjoyed it but not her best work

It was good but not so good I couldn't put it down. Worth the listen/read.

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The description of the island was wonderful

I liked the thought of the island talking to its owner that promised to take care of it

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  • Overall
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Not a fan of the narration

I'm a huge Kelley fan but this is a clunker. The writing is not fluid to the point that I thought this was an old unpublished story newly released. The hardest part for me was the narrator. She seems to have an accent that is very pronounced on certain words. An accent is fine if you're going to narrate with it , but , if it only comes out in certain words, it throws off the entire immersion.

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Not what I expected

I am a huge Kelley Armstrong fan, but this one was not my favorite. Paranormal / urban fantasy is my go to typically, but this one was just a little darker than I prefer. Also, the ending didn’t seem to match the main character’s personality, but maybe that’s just me.

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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.

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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.

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