Published: March 6, 2018
Publisher: Ace
Series: The World of the Others #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 414 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis:
In this thrilling and suspenseful fantasy, set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, Vicki DeVine and her lodger, the shapeshifter Aggie Crowe, stumble onto a dead body . . . and find themselves enmeshed in danger and dark secrets.
Human laws do not apply in the territory controlled by the Others–vampires, shapeshifters, and paranormal beings even more deadly. And this is a fact that humans should never, ever forget . . .
After her divorce, Vicki DeVine took over a rustic resort near Lake Silence, in a human town that is not human controlled. Towns like Vicki’s have no distance from the Others, the dominant predators that rule most of the land and all of the water throughout the world. And when a place has no boundaries, you never really know what’s out there watching you.
Vicki was hoping to find a new career and a new life. But when her lodger, Aggie Crowe–one of the shapeshifting Others–discovers a dead body, Vicki finds trouble instead. The detectives want to pin the man’s death on her, despite the evidence that nothing human could have killed the victim. As Vicki and her friends search for answers, things get dangerous–and it’ll take everything they have to stay alive.
I decided after over a year long break it was time to return to the world of The Others once again. Lake Silence is the first in The World of the Others trilogy and is set along another one of the Finger Lakes in what we would call New York. If you’ve read any of this series, you’ll know that this is an alternate version of our world where supernatural beings hold power and humans exist at their mercy. Things have… interesting names.
Lake Silence follows Vicki DeVine, a recently divorced woman who has been fixing up the lake front property she received as part of her divorce settlement. The property, called the Jumble, is a rustic resort that had been neglected by her ex-husband’s family for years. Because this property is on land belonging to the terra indigene – the Others – strict rules must be followed on how the property is developed and land is put to use. Vicki has repaired and updated the property and is just about to open the resort when a body is discovered along the property boundary. It quickly becomes clear that something deeper is going on and it’s all related to the Jumble and how profitable it could be for someone.
Vicki is an admirable character with a strong moral compass and a rather abused sense of self-esteem. She’s rebuilding her life following her divorce and unfortunately, her ex-husband and his cronies just can’t seem to leave her alone. Fortunately, Vicki is on the good side of the terra indigene residing around the town of Sproing, where the Jumble is located, and many of the townsfolk. There are numerous side characters, both human and Other, and I enjoy each of their POV chapters.
Lake Silence was a solid read and I enjoyed the unfolding drama, the investigative elements, and even the swift and merciless justice of the terra indigene. Something about Anne Bishop’s writing style with these books always takes a bit of getting used to. Word choice is sometimes strange and I feel like the characters come across as a bit simple, but yet I always end up enjoying the stories quite a bit. I have yet to read any of Anne Bishop’s other work, so I can’t say if this is just the author’s style or if it’s particularly chosen for this world. Either way, I’ll be picking up the next one soon!
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