Lake Silence

January 22, 2018
The sixth installment of Bishop’s paranormal series (after 2017’s Etched in Bone), set in an alternate upstate New York, constitutes a fresh take on a series concept that had been stalling. It is a standalone thriller, set near a village called Sproing in the Finger Lakes. New to the cast is narrator Vicki DeVine, who, unlike past protagonists, is an ordinary human woman. Recently divorced from an abusive wheeler-dealer, she has come to Lake Silence to renovate the property that constituted her settlement. The Jumble is exactly that: a dilapidated sprawl of buildings, abandoned by humans but not by the world’s supernatural predators, the Others. Vicki plans to reopen it as a modest resort until a body is discovered on her land. Abruptly, this unassuming, hesitant woman must cope with a police investigation as well as a conspiracy by developers to seize the Jumble. Many core elements of prior plots are intact, notably the Others’ inevitable dominance, which dampens the tension. But the pleasures of these books have always lain in worldbuilding and character growth. Centering these on a woman liberating herself (personally and professionally) from abuse makes this episode unexpectedly timely. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary.

February 15, 2018
This contemporary fantasy is the first in a series spun off from The Others, set in an alternate world where shape-shifters, vampires, and Elementals control all the natural resources and see most humans as prey.Vicki DeVine is trying to renovate The Jumble, a rural retreat in the Finger Lakes that she received in the settlement from her divorce. After her lodger discovers a dead body, Vicki learns the deceased was hired by her slimy ex-husband and a cabal of unscrupulous businessman, who intend to force her to relinquish The Jumble so they can transform it into a ritzy resort. Regrettably for their continued survival, they don't realize just how much the clawed and toothy locals will object to this plan. This is the latest iteration of Bishop's favorite plot, employed liberally in far too many of her books. A sentient predator, or group of predators, provides ample evidence of their capacity for mass slaughter. A person or persons want something possessed either by the predators or by a seemingly weak woman protected by the predators. The predators wait for the enemy to do something sufficiently provocative, which they inevitably do after a series of escalating encroachments, and then the predators brutally kill the chief enemy and/or their allies, leaving the few survivors with no ability to retaliate. Bishop gets away with continually re-embroidering the same story because she's a good worldbuilder; plus, her heroes are always so likable and the villains so awful, it's incredibly satisfying to see the latter get their righteous, messy, and, above all, predictable comeuppance. At the same time, the blindly stupid stubbornness of the enemy, persisting even as bodies pile up, gets tiresome. And the details of this novel's climactic scene are just too similar to that of Bishop's last Others novel, Etched in Bone (2017).Her fans will enjoy this reheated fare, but it would be nice to see something fresh on offer for Bishop's next effort.

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February 1, 2018
Bishop's newest installment in the best-selling Others series (after Etched in Bone, 2017) is nothing short of nail-biting fun. After fantastic creatures such as vampires and shapeshifters come out of the shadows to reveal themselves as the primary predators on Earth, humanity is learning how to adapt to the new world order and cohabitate in peace. One human bridging the gap with the Others is Vicki DeVine, a strong but battered woman who received a rustic resort near Lake Silence in a recent divorce settlement from her abusive ex-husband. Vicki restores the resort, and her business provides a safe haven for Others and humans to learn about one another on neutral ground. But when Vicki's ex and his cronies set a dangerous plot in motion to take back the resort, the humans quickly realize that the Others are in controland will go to any lengths to remove the human threat. What follows is a fast-paced crime story unfolding against a fantasy backdrop that readers looking for a little bit of mystery to unravel will enjoy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

March 15, 2018

When divorc�e Vicki DeVine took over the Jumble, a rustic and somewhat rundown resort near Lake Silence, all she wished for was a quiet life for herself. But Vicki lives in Sproing, a human village controlled by the paranormal Others. As the dominant species, the Others usually keep to themselves. Usually. But now Vicki's lodger Aggie Crowe--a Crowgard Other--has found a dead man near her property, and Vicki falls under suspicion as the murderer. Vicki's new friends begin to rally around her as she finds that her business--and her life--may be at stake. But there are stronger, older forces in Lake Silence that have been disturbed, and they make the rules that must be obeyed. While leaving behind the familiar faces from her original "The Others" series, Bishop uses this series debut to build a world in which humans are not the strongest species. A solid, if familiar, tale filled with shapeshifters, vampires, and the humans who work both with and against them. VERDICT Bishop's fans will be happy to return to the universe of the Others, with a new cast of characters and a fantastical suspense plot. [See Prepub Alert, 10/9/17.]--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

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