Lake Silence by Anne Bishop
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Overview:
If you were sad to say goodbye to to Meg Cabot and Simon Wolfgard, I strongly recommend you pick up this book. While this story is not directly related to the original books, the world of the Others continues to be intriguing and engaging, and Bishop's writing is top-notch.

World building:
This book is set in the world of the other slightly after the end of the original series. The brief human rebellion against the others has been crushed and things are pretty much back to normal except that the elders are paying more attention to the two-legged predators who share their land than they did before.
The majority of this story takes place in a place called The Jumbles, which is a lakeside resort at the edge of a small human city called Sproing. The city is small enough that there is little to no separation from the wild country, but somehow the humans manage to delude themselves that they are removed from the influence of the Others, or perhaps beneath their notice. But when a group of self-important city folk stir up trouble, we get to see that line between civilization and the wild country disappear.

Language and mechanics:
Ann Bishop remains a masterful storyteller. Her writing is both detailed and concise, and flows with a grace that pulls a reader in and takes them for an immersive ride.
This book's chapters are divided by POV, with a heading at the beginning of each that tells you which character you will be following. Most of the book is written in third person, the one exception being Vicki's chapters, which are written in first.

Character and voice:
I love most of the characters in this story, especially Aggie, one of the Crowgard, and Grimshaw, the gruff police officer who take his oath to serve and protect very seriously.
Probably the only character I didn't care much for was Vicki, which was disappointing since she was the primary protagonist and the only character written in the first person. There was nothing wrong with her character per se. She's an emotionally-damaged woman with low self esteem and serious body image issues. She's written well. But she never really did anything. She was like an object other characters would move around so that they could make interesting things happen. The police move her to town, the Sanguinati move her to Silent Lodge, the bad guys move her back to the Jumble. People tell her where to go and what to do through the whole book, right up until the very end. I kept waiting for her to come into her own, but she never really did. My ambivalence to Vicki is the only reason I don't consider this a five star book.

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