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.

Sometimes, I like to go into books not knowing anything about them beyond the pitch. Cabin on an island? Eerie events plaguing renters? Group with secrets? Sign me up.

Laney is still reeling from her divorce when she receives a call about someone trying to scare the renters on her island cabin. Stressed and distraught, she heads to the island with her niece, only to find her ex-husband, estranged best friend, an old high school friend and her brother also have arrived. Things go south quickly, and together they must figure out who or what is plaguing the island before it's too late.

I really enjoyed this book.

I thought it would be a locked-door mystery type thriller--which I love--but was pleasantly surprised at the sharp turn into horror. There was no shortage of gruesome imagery, plenty of twists, and a solid creepy tension underlying the entire plot. With insightful observations and discussions about gender identity, sexuality, post-covid repercussions, and consent, Armstrong creates a taut atmosphere with crisp characters and fresh takes on final girl tropes.

I Know What You Did Last Summer x Moana (and if these comps don't tell you everything you need to know about mom status as a horror writer lol) this is a fun, quick, gory read that will leave you satisfied.

Big thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Can an island be a living entity...can it kill people or make them disappear...These things can't be happening; they cannot be real is all Laney can think. But no matter what is happening she has to keep her niece, Madison, safe and keep her long held secrets secret no matter what. Laney will do anything to keep Madison safe...anything. And she needs to keep her ex-husband, who she is still in love with, and his sister her former best friend safe as well. But can she save them all and herself from whatever is happening...

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I got to chapter seven before giving up.
There were too many characters showing up too often. I was constantly confused about who they all were in correlation with our MC. It was too fast paced. Sounds weird, but true. Made it a bit Scooby-Doo-ish and hard to keep up. This pace led to no atmosphere or building up any creepiness.
They were already making dumb decisions like walking to the woods to check for an intruder without putting shoes on.
I was disappointed in the writing. And I know this author can write! I read her YA trilogy, The Summoning, and enjoyed it. This felt like a rushed project.

Now this was a book that immediately brought me out of my reading slump! Thank you @NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press!

Laney a divorcee has one thing from her marriage, HER ISLAND. But to be able to keep affording it she has been renting it out to strangers. A middle of the night call from frantic renters brings her to the island to find out why mysterious and creepy things have been happening. Which leads her down a path she didn’t see coming.

This was a horror novel that thriller lovers can enjoy, the claustrophobic atmosphere brings you in, I couldn’t put this one down and broke my own rule of no horror books at bed time to know what happened.

This is an atmospheric tale, and I liked that the spooky stuff starts right from the beginning. This book did keep me guessing, and I definitely didn’t guess what was really going on on the island. I do think there could have been fewer distracting subplots and repetitive thoughts/narration from the FMC, I found that it took me out of the creepiness of the story and didn’t always make a lot of sense to me. Overall, a decent read for spooky season, especially as the book is set in Autumn.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. HEMLOCK ISLAND is out on 9/12/2023.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of The Poisoner’s Ring, A Rip Through Time Novel by Kelley Armstrong from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press /Minotaur Books in order to read and give an honest review.

…found it to be an atmospheric, chilling, dark, creepy, and briskly paced horror novel which I devoured in one sitting...

Recently divorced author and teacher Laney Kilpatrick received the summer home on Hemlock Island in Lake Superior in their divorce. Isolated and a perfect place to write, it had been Laney’s dream home that her and her ex-husband Kit lovingly built together during their marriage. The past few years have been rough on Laney, the island became the couple’s refuge during the pandemic, but isolated without any form of communication with humanity it became the place where the seeds of divorce were planted. Right after the divorce Laney’s beloved sister loses her battle with cancer and Laney becomes guardian to her teenage niece Madison. Laney is struggling although she loves Hemlock Island and despite developers clamoring to buy it, she is struggling to keep it. Unfortunately for her, the upkeep is expensive and when she is on the mainland working as a teacher, she gets extra income by renting it out to visitors. When she receives a frantic phone call from her current renters reporting that they have discovered blood and claw marks in a closet in the home in addition to previous complaints such as finding hex circles, and wind chimes made of bones, it’s just one more thing for Laney to worry about.

Laney with Madison in tow visits the island to investigate, but they are not alone. Unannounced, Laney’s ex-husband Kit, his sister and her estranged childhood friend, Jayla, arrive, as do other former childhood friends, Kit’s ex-girlfriend Sadie with her brother Garrett. Although Kit and Laney’s divorce was amicable, and although estranged, is friends with Jayla, things with Sadie and Garrett however are rife with secrets, deception, and jealousy. After hearing an argument between Kit and Sadie, an overwhelmed Laney goes to bed. When they wake the next morning to find Sadie has packed up and left with the only motorized boat, leaving them stranded on the island as an act of revenge.

Convinced Sadie wouldn’t see him stranded, Garrett insists they look for her. When they stumble across a series of puzzling, unexplainable and gruesome discoveries, they must wonder who…or what is behind it.
With everything going on and with the isolation of the island when a brutal storm whips up out of nowhere it becomes the perfect backdrop adding to the chilling, dangerous and creepy atmosphere of the book.

A fan of Kelley Armstrong, I really enjoy the supernatural elements she brings to her books and this one is no exception. Although I enjoyed most of this book, the gore factor was a bit much for me. However, despite my aversion to gore it is a brilliantly written, cleverly plotted storyline which wraps up with an unusual and unexpected twist. The characters are well written, flawed and make mistakes which only makes them seem more authentic, in my opinion.
Other than the gore, I enjoyed this and found it to be an atmospheric, chilling, dark, creepy, and briskly paced horror novel which I devoured in one sitting. I highly recommend it.

FRICKKKKK. THIS ONE WAS AMAZING, and I'm sad I put it off for so long. I am so thankful to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, Kelley Armstrong, and Netgalley for granting me audio, physical, and digital copies of this twisty, paranormal thriller that will shock you with every turning page. Hemlock Island is projected to hit shelves on September 12, 2023, and there's still time to add this baby to your never-ending TBR.

Laney owns Hemlock Island and rents it out to vacationers and campers alike, and when she's awoken by an irate tenant who found blood smeared in their closet, she's up and ready to solve the case. Laney is also a mystery writer and is joined by her niece/now daughter (almost) after her sister's death to get to the bottom of this phantom blood incident.

Upon showing up to the island, she's met by her ex-husband and sister in-law who mean to solve the case as well, but with a twist to resolve to some relationship issues. All looks peachy until Sadie and her bigot-brother Garrett (two childhood friends of the group) show up to join the party. It's not long before dead bodies are found, some not quite all the way dead, and mysteriously bizarre island happenings take place, leaving the group trapped with no way out.

It's almost as if the island is avenging its losses and placing blame on Laney and her commercialized approach to showcasing the island... You'll just have to read more to find out.

Hemlock Island begins with an intriguing, but not very original, premise.

Laney has recently divorced her husband, Kit. She refused alimony but agreed to keep the remote private island where they lived. Unfortunately, she cannot maintain such an elaborate estate on her teacher’s salary. She has been renting out the house to make ends meet. Lately, someone has been leaving occult signs and hexes on the property.

The most recent discovery is blood sprayed in a closet complete with scratch marks as if someone was trying to get out. When the latest renters call to complain, Laney and her ward and niece, Madison, rush out to the island. When they arrive at the island, Kit, his sister and Laney’s former college best friend Sadie, and Sadie’s brother all invite themselves to the island too. Strange stuff begins to occur.

I am trying to not reveal the plot. However, I do want to explain my rating. Someone is doing the stuff. There are limited people on the island. It seems very Agatha Christie until about halfway through the book. Then I began to wonder how the author was going to extricate herself from a puzzle with seemingly no answer. The solution, unfortunately, was so unbelievable that I would have thrown the book across the room (but it was my new kindle, so I contented myself with shaking my head while quietly cursing).

Hemlock Island is best for horror rather than thriller fans. Since I prefer a smoother mashup than demonstrated here, 3 stars from me.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

Hemlock Island gripped me right from the very first pages!

Laney’s ex-husband bought a remote island and built her a beautiful house on it. He gave it to her in the divorce, but she can’t afford to keep it on her teacher’s salary. So, she rents it out to strangers. But some of these strangers vandalize her home, and she has to head out to the island to investigate. Her niece, Madison, who she’s the guardian for, tags along for the ride. Once she’s there, her ex-husband, former best friend, her ex-friend and her brother are all there to “help.” It’s clear right off the bat that everyone has secrets and while her divorce was amicable, there’s a lot more to the story than even Laney knows. And then one of them goes missing, the boats are destroyed, and they’re all stranded on Hemlock Island–with a killer.

The basic premise feels somewhat tried and true, but as the book progresses, the twists and plotline becomes jawdroppingly unique. Armstrong perfectly blends a fast-paced plot with character development, as the truth about what truly happened between these characters is gradually revealed.


And then there’s the horror element. For the first half, I was convinced this book was more of a thriller. The tension escalates until the book definitely becomes horror, but not too extreme. There’s elements of psychological horror, as the book has a naturally claustrophobic feel to it, since they’re trapped on the island. And then there are some gory bits, particularly towards the end…

What really makes this book shine is the ending. Obviously, no spoilers here, but the major twist was phenomenal, and the way the book ended will stay with me for a long time. Excuse me, while I go read a rom com to cleanse my palate. 5 stars!

Somehow I missed that this is a horror novel- and thanks to Armstrong, it's a darn good one that doesn't reveal its secrets until deep into the very good read. Kip bought Hemlock Island for Laney as a wedding present and, when they divorced, she got it in the settlement and has turned it into a going air bnb type concern. But now something bad is happening there- and she's going out to check on things, along with her niece Madison. She met at the dock by Kit, his sister (and her former BFF) Jayla and then- at the last minute by Sadie and Sadie's brother Garrett. The older six have known each other for years and years, and they've got some issues, all of which blow out the window (and back again btw) when things go wild on the island. Sadie's gone, the boat is gone, the kayaks and canoes are gone, and there's a hand in the dirt. There's no internet and no way to get away from whatever is causing the chaos. Can they survive? No spoilers from me. Oh, and there's an interesting twist of a secret. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A real page turner.