Review: Wild Country by Anne Bishop

Wild Country (The World of the Others #2) by Anne Bishop

Publication Date: March 5th 2019 by Ace

Pages: 496

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About the book:

In this powerful and exciting fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, humans and the shape-shifting Others will see whether they can live side by side...without destroying one another.

There are ghost towns in the world—places where the humans were annihilated in retaliation for the slaughter of the shape-shifting Others.

One of those places is Bennett, a town at the northern end of the Elder Hills—a town surrounded by the wild country. Now efforts are being made to resettle Bennett as a community where humans and Others live and work together. A young female police officer has been hired as the deputy to a Wolfgard sheriff. A deadly type of Other wants to run a human-style saloon. And a couple with four foster children—one of whom is a blood prophet—hope to find acceptance.

But as they reopen the stores and the professional offices and start to make lives for themselves, the town of Bennett attracts the attention of other humans looking for profit. And the arrival of the Blackstone Clan, outlaws and gamblers all, will uncover secrets…or bury them.

My Thoughts:

Bennett is one of the towns where the humans were obliterated by the Elders (the scariest of Others) since the Humans First and Last Group slaughtered many Others, and humans alike.  The Elders took out a bunch of towns, and so they sit deserted, but Bennett is a place that Others claimed, a town along an important train route.  They feel they must claim the town, so other nefarious human groups won’t come in, take advantage and settle. Unfortunately, Bennett’s still an attractive prospect to a human outlaw group, the Blackstone Clan; a group that hasn’t learned the importance of respecting the power of the Elders, or Others.  

Tolya Sanguinati is the new mayor in charge, but Jesse Walker, an Intuit from Prairie Gold is an informal confidant and advisor to him. As an Intuit she has uncanny powers of intuition, providing Tolya helpful guidance in any decisions made about the town.  I enjoyed their relationship, the trust between them even though she’s a human and he’s an Other.  It’s decided that they need to start recruiting humans and Others to revive the town and fill various positions needed for a small town to function. 

Jana just graduated from the Police Academy, but prejudices against women has made it hard for her to get a job.  She’s recruited to work for the Bennett Police Department, and even though she knows there’s bound to be difficulties working with a Wolfgard police chief, she welcomes the opportunity. There’s no love lost between Virgil Wolfgard, the police chief, and humans.  After all, his wolf-pack was slaughtered by the Humans First Last, so when Jana comes aboard it’s a bumpy road adjusting.  It’s entertaining as they feel each other out, find out what to expect. There are difficulties, but Jana is up to the challenge.  I was hoping (Highlight for spoiler:) there would be a romance between Jana and Virgil, there’s some definite chemistry there, IMO, but that was not to be in this installment.  I still think there’s potential there, but as for now, it’s Jana and Tobias. (End of spoiler)

The Blackstone’s are a nasty group, trying to bully their way into town and take over, their presence and threat had me on the edge of my seat. To be honest, I don’t know why the Tolya and the rest of the major players didn’t recognize them as more of a threat, especially with some of the warnings they got from Hope Wolfsong.  There were a lot of losses, and I’m wondering how it’ll affect the relationships that had started to form before everything came to a head.

I’ve loved The Others since the beginning, and I’m delighted to get more from this world, even if it’s not Meg and Simon.  I liked Lake Silence, the first spin-off book, but I enjoyed Wild Country even more.  I think part of the reason is that there were several characters here that I’d already met and wanted more of in the previous books: Tolya Sanguinati, Jesse Walker, Tobias Walker, Rachel Wolfgard, and Barbara Ellen Debany, but I have to say two new characters: Jana and Virgil were my favorites in this installment. Watching the humans and Others of Bennett working together and forming bonds, learning to trust, and yes, start a romance (or three, yay!) is what I love most about this series. I can’t wait for the next one!

4 Suns