Thornhill is the second book in a supernatural mystery trilogy perfect for readers who love Richelle Meade and HBO's hit drama True Blood. Kathleen Peacock's extraordinary follow-up to her debut novel, Hemlock, features heart-stopping action and a sizzling romance.

Mackenzie's new love, Kyle, plans to turn himself in to the Lupine Syndrome Registration Bureau and enroll in a rehabilitation camp, where he can live with other werewolves. But Mac refuses to accept his decision, especially since the camps are rumored to be torturous. When she follows him there, she uncovers dangerous secrets buried within the walls of Thornhill—a prison for the young and infected—and realizes that the risk to the people she loves is greater than ever before.

Good follow up to Deady Hemlock. Stops just short of angsty teen. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Action packed and filled with mystery, romance, and friendship. This was a wonderful sequel to Hemlock and I would highly recommend it to lovers of YA paranormal novels.

Opening Sentence: Some rooms looked better in the dark, this was definitely one of them.

The Review:

There has been a mass breakout of the Lupine syndrome or more commonly known as the werewolf virus. If you are bitten or scratched by a transformed werewolf you become infected and there is no cure. Werewolves are dangerous and to protect humans anyone infected is transferred to camps for treatments. It is against the law to protect anyone that has the disease, and there are serious punishments to anyone that tries to hide a werewolf.

Mac, Amy, Jason, and Kyle were inseparable ever since Mac moved to the small town of Hemlock 3 years ago. Than Amy was brutally murdered by a werewolf, Jason turned to drinking to deal with the pain, and Kyle accidently became infected. Mac lost her best friend and the boy she loves leaves town to try and protect her, but Mac can’t bear to lose another person she cares about. She and Jason follow a lead to Colorado where they find Kyle in a werewolf den. Not long after their reunion there is a Tracker raid and Mac finds herself in a werewolf camp with Kyle. As Mac tries to find a way to escape she stumbles upon some of Thornhill’s deadly secrets and she realizes that none of them may make it out of Thornhill alive.

Mac is a fun and interesting heroine. She has had a rough life and has been abandoned by almost everyone she has ever cared about until she moved to Hemlock. The handful of people she has let into her life mean everything to her. She is very sweet and tender hearted, but she cares so much about other people there are times she forgets to take care of herself. I felt that Mac made a few too many rash decisions. She is a very determined person which I respected, but I would have liked her to have thought things through a little better sometimes. Overall, I really love Mac and connected with her easily.

Now for my favorite part — the boys. I am really torn between the two guys, they both have some major plus’s and some big downfalls. First, you have Jason who is the hot, rich, and popular boy that everyone has dreamed about kissing at one point or another. But after everything that happened with Amy, Jason just went off the deep end. He started drinking too much and fighting. He became so broken but you can’t help but want to put him back together again. In Thornhill you get to see a side of the old Jason, the one that is confident and smart. He still has a lot of issues he needs to work out but he is making a lot of progress. I love the romance between him and Mac, it is sweet and heartbreaking. He cares about her so much that he will do anything for her. I love his character and I am excited to see where his story goes.

Than we have the devastatingly handsome Kyle. He is that person you can always rely on to be there for you when you need them. He left Hemlock to protect everyone he cares about including Mac. He is no longer human and he would never forgive himself if anything ever happened to Mac because of his condition. But Mac has already lost too many people she cares about. She loves Kyle and she wants to prove to him that she doesn’t care that he is a werewolf. Mac and Kyle have great chemistry and I loved that they started out as best friends first. I instantly fell in love with Kyle in the first book and after reading Thornhill I love him even more. I honestly don’t envy Mac in her decision she has to make between these two boys, they are both totally swoon worthy in my book.

This was a really fun fast read for me. I really enjoyed Hemlock and I had high hopes for the sequel. It did not disappoint. You jump right into where the first book left off and it hooked me right away. You learn so much more about the werewolves which I really liked. You have the original cast of characters, but there are many new ones introduced that were fun and compelling. The plot was intriguing and had some good twists. I really enjoyed the ending, you got resolution, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that make me eager to read the last book. I would recommend this series to anyone that is a werewolf or YA paranormal fan. It is a fun light read with a great love triangle.

Notable Scene:

I slipped on a small pool of blood and fell to my knees just over the threshold. With my hands bound, there was no way for me to break my fall. I bit back a pained gasp. Werewolves didn’t cry over scraped knees, and if the Trackers realized I was a reg, I’d lose my only chance to find where Kyle and Serena were being taken.

I shimmied away from the edge of the truck and found a space along the wall. There were no benches or seats: it was a truck built for freight, not people.

I looked up.

Jason.

He was trying to push past a Tracker who looked capable of breaking him in two. He was shouting, but the scene was too chaotic and he was too far away for me to catch a single sentence.

His face and clothes were streaked with ash and he looked crazed—as crazed as any wolf with bloodlust—but he was okay. He wasn’t in cuffs and the Trackers hadn’t beaten him to a pulp. He was all right. He would be all right.

His gaze locked on mine. Fierce. Desperate. Determined.

FTC Advisory: Katherine Tegen Books/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Thornhill. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )