Lake Silence --by Anne Bishop

Fiction / Urban Fantasy

5 Stars

NOTE: This book is not yet available, but will be soon. Very soon. Pre-order it so when it is available, you won't miss it.

DISCLAIMER: I had the marvelous opportunity to read an early, unpublished version of Lake Silence for review, it may not be quite the same as the one currently for sale, though I seriously doubt the basic story will change. Some of the plot points may shift.

When I read Etched in Bone, the last of the series about the Others, I was truly sad. I enjoy that world and was delighted when I heard rumors there were two more stand-alone books coming. The same world--new characters. (I do understand why an author wants to move on from a world. There are so many new worlds out there to create and visit, but there is something about this world that resonates with me more than most.)

Imagine being married to a real scumbag, who hangs around with lowlifes in high places. Imagine being divorced, and for your part of the settlement, he 'gives' you his great grandmother's old home and "resort" called The Jumble out on a remote lake, by a tiny village, controlled like the rest of the world by The Others. The Jumble in disrepair, it has a private beach, and your ex generously 'gives' you just enough cash to repair the old place and writes something in the divorce decree that if it isn't all done within a specified period of time, he gets it back. You are two weeks over the time limit.

Now, imagine you get things going, have a tenant in one of your cabins, a member of the Crowgard (a crow/human shapeshifter), and murder happens and you are suspected, and arrested and a most yummy, delicious man you've never met walks into the jail and announces he is your lawyer. He is obviously rich, well-heeled, and you haven't a clue who he is or why he's there. Those crows aren't stupid, y'know? Oh, and did I mention that your new and yummy lawyer is a Vampire, and controls the land on which both the village and the The Jumble sit. And he likes you, and he doesn't like the low-lifes trying to take The Jumble away from you.

This is a stand-alone novel, and I don't think you need to read the series first, though it wouldn't hurt (read in order, by the way). Doing so will give you a better idea of the world; however, it isn't necessary, you'll quickly pick it up. Also, and this is really, truly important, don't start at bedtime. This is not a book to give you nightmares, but it is a book designed to keep you reading until the dawn and The End come together.