I was so excited to start Lake Silence by Anne Bishop. I loved the first part of The Others, and I was curious to see where the author would take us next. I wasn’t disappointed 😀

Welcome to a small town in the middle of Wild Country off the coast of one of the Finger Lakes, Lake Silence. Vicki DeVine is a recently divorced woman trying to make a go of the property she inherited in the divorce, The Jumble. What Vicki doesn’t realize is that the Jumble is actually a terra indigene community. This makes for quite the surprise when the book opens with one of her residents warming up an eyeball in the microwave.

Vicki is not all that different from Meg. She isn’t a “sweet blood,” but she is damaged mentally and emotionally thanks to her ex. However she is trying to make a life for herself and I have to give her props for that. Vicki is a fairly independent woman and is embarrassed that she allowed her ex to control her like he did. I think fans of the series will enjoy Vicki and her interactions with the terra indigene.

Like the previous books, this one is told from multiple POVs with Vicki being the main focus. Grimshaw works highway patrol and is sent to investigate the eyeball and dead body found near the Jumble’s property. I like Grimshaw, he reminds me a little of Lieutenant Montgomery in that he is very aware of the terra indigene, enough so that he knows when to fear them and when to back down. What I didn’t care for with Grimshaw is that he was standoffish at times and didn’t seem to want to develop a working relationship with the terra indigene beyond keeping humans (even bad ones) safe. The other two main POVs (there are more but I’ll only touch on these) were Ilya Sanguinati and Aggie Crowgard. Aggie is young, even for a Crow, and I like her devotion to Vicki. She is the resident that warms up the eyeball but she is also a kind, inquisitive teen in her mannerisms and interactions with humans.

Personally I was excited to have a Sanguinati as the lead terra indigene in this book. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Simon and the Wolfgard. BUT there is something mysterious about this race of terra indigene that intrigues me. Maybe it’s because of how relatable they are to humans. Maybe it is Vicki’s reaction to this particular Sanguinati and his reaction to her. Who knows! I really enjoyed this character!

The plot unfortunately was very predictable and very slow. I had a really hard time completing the book. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. It was just really long. I think some of that is due to the fact that the author is introducing new characters and new setting. Also if you are someone who hasn’t read the previous books of the series, you can read this one without going back to the previous books. I think that is a plus, though I did get excited when a character from the previous books was mentioned.

Overall I enjoyed Lake Silence. I didn’t love it, because it was just so slow and I missed Meg, Simon, and the rest of the gang. I do like Vicki and the Jumble. I’m curious to see what is in store as the terra indigene return to the community. If you enjoy dry humor, a little horror, paranormal urban fantasy, I highly recommend this one.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.