4 Stars from me
This is the first book in the series The World of the Others.
Lake Silence builds on the world that Anne Bishop had created in her “The Others” series, starting with Written in Red. This story takes place in a different town surrounded by the Others, featuring a completely new cast of humans and creatures.
Vicki DeVine received a piece of property near Lake Silence, as part of her divorce settlement. After a body was discovered on her property, Vicki learns the true extent of the Others’ involvement in her resort and the surrounding area. When her new-found freedom is challenged by her ex-husband and his ill-intentioned cronies, Vicki and her new human friends must forge an uneasy alliance with the Others to get rid of the threat.
The Others in this book still have the same feel as in all the other books in the series, and their behaviour matched my expectations for them. It was interesting to read about the human and Others interactions in a different part of this world. Vicki’s vampire lawyer, Ilya, was interesting. He helps Vicki out of all her difficult situations, but it is always clear that his motivation is in the interest of the Others. Wayne Grimshaw is pulled into the situation at Lake Silence and is crowned the chief of police by the town. He is the reluctant hero, but still steps in to take charge whenever it is needed. Julian is another reluctant hero, with a mysterious past and some special skills that proved to be very useful as the drama unfolded. Both of these men could be counted on to keep their heads when things started to fall apart.
Vicki is hard to like. She is left with deep-seated fears resulting from her failed marriage and has lost all her trust in men, especially in a romantic sense. She is prone to anxiety attacks and has a decided lack of self-confidence. If it wasn’t for her lawyer, her ex-husband and his co-conspirators would have bulldozed right over her. She is definitely not the strongest female character in the book. I don’t feel as if she had made much improvement in that respect either as the story progressed. She did seem to come out of her shell a bit, and started to trust the people around her more, but she still struggled with the same insecurities at the end.
The villains were shallow, greedy, and self-centered. The gradual way the author allowed their motivations for their crimes to be revealed kept my interest.
I liked the flow of words in the writing. It felt natural, not stilted at all. It was a pleasure to read. Initially I felt disappointed that there was no mention of the other familiar characters from the previous books, but this story quickly grabbed by attention and kept it.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. Even though I feel as if the main protagonist did not grow enough as a character, there was definitive growth in the relationships between the characters and their understanding of each other. I look forward to read more about this world.
Was I hooked by this book? I would say yes, for sure.
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
