Review: Wild Country by Anne Bishop

Wild Country
Anne Bishop
Publication date: March 5, 2019
Series: The World of the Others #2, The Others #7
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Adult
Source: Berkley Publishing and NetGalley

GOODREADS  |  AMAZON

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. 

M Y   T H O U G H T S

The wait between last year’s Lake Silence and Wild Country was a long one but it was so worth it. This return to the world of The Others was everything I wanted. Unlike Lake Silence, where everything felt new from the location to the cast of characters, in Wild Country we return to the town of Bennett and plenty of familiar faces.

It’s only a matter of weeks after a war between humans and the terra indigene (beings that occupied the earth long before humans) and the town of Bennett is being resettled. This draws not only people looking to make a fresh start but also con artists and criminals. The town quickly becomes a mix of both humans and Others (shape shifting wolves, ravens, panthers and more) with vampire Tolya Sanguinati serving as the town leader. With feelings ranging from uneasy acceptance to outright hostility (from both sides), it’s only a matter of time before things reach a boiling point in Bennett. Some humans and Others have forged a tenuous alliance to avoid further bloodshed and loss of life (courtesy of the Elders who remain largely unseen). But there are those who seem determined to repeat the mistakes of the past and are on a collision course with another clash between humans and Others.

As always, one of my favorite aspects in this series is the interaction between the terra indigene and humans. It’s always interesting watching as they adapt to one another and it never fails to lead to some laugh out loud moments (and yes, some dangerous ones, too). In this case, Jana, a human police officer and her boss Virgil Wolfgard, the sheriff, have to learn to work side by side and trust one another. Jana wants a chance to prove herself as a female police officer and Virgil has to remember to not bite her when she yaps at him. While I enjoyed almost all the new characters introduced in Wild Country, it was these two that had me invested and they provided not only real character growth but also some comic relief and a few genuinely sweet moments.

It never fails to surprise me that in this amazing urban fantasy series so many humans remain convinced of their superiority and invincibility. Newsflash: in this stunningly original world that Bishop has created, humans are not at the top of the food chain. But there are always those whose hubris will be their downfall. The cruelty and senseless violence from some of the humans begs the question: who is actually the more humane – the humans who lie and cheat and kill? Or the Others, who put Pack above all, take care of their own, and have their own swift form of justice?

The timeline of Wild Country overlaps somewhat with Etched in Bone (the fifth and final book in the original series) so readers of the original series will recall certain events that took place, now seen from a different perspective. But even those new to the world of the Others will be able to fall right into this fast-paced story and enjoy the ride. 

4.5/5 STARS

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. This does not impact my opinion of the book or the content of this review. I received no compensation and my review is voluntary.