THORNHILL

The plot wallows as Mackenzie struggles to reunite with her werewolf boyfriend, Kyle, in this sequel to Hemlock (2012).

She hopes to find him in Denver, something of a mecca for those infected with Lupine Syndrome. With two of her best friends—boyfriend wannabe Jason, recently a member of the werewolf-hating Trackers, and werewolf Serena—she tracks him down at a werewolf nightclub presided over by her father, who abandoned her three years before. There’s little time for reunions, though, as a Tracker raid quickly sends Mackenzie, Kyle and Serena to Thornhill, a model “rehabilitation camp.” There, Mackenzie poses as a werewolf, hoping to effect a rescue from inside. Complicating matters is the removal of Serena to a top-secret facility within Thornhill, for no-doubt-nefarious purposes. This is too bad, as Serena was one of the more interesting characters in the first book, but a couple other wolves—Eve, a punk protégée of Mackenzie’s father’s, and Dex, an internee with dark suspicions—help to compensate. Unfortunately, far too much of the plot is given over to Mackenzie’s hand-wringing over having put everybody in danger and the swoony kisses she shares with Kyle in stolen moments. Real-world parallels to such issues as closeted homosexuality and the spread of HIV are quickly indicated and then dropped.

A semi-climactic confrontation leaves characters poised for Book 3; only series devotees will be as well.