Crowbones will gitcha if you don’t watch out!
Deep in the territory controlled by the Others – shape-shifters, vampires, and even deadlier paranormal beings – Vicki DeVine has made a new life for herself running The Jumble, a rustic resort. When she decides to host a gathering of friends and guests for Trickster Night, at first everything is going well between the humans and the Others.
But then someone arrives dressed as Crowbones, the Crowgard bogeyman. When the impostor is killed along with a shape-shifting Crow, and the deaths are clearly connected, everyone fears that the real Crowbones may have come to The Jumble – and that could mean serious trouble.
To “encourage” humans to help them find some answers, the Elders and Elementals close all the roads, locking in suspects and victims alike. Now Vicki, human police chief Grimshaw, vampire lawyer Ilya Sanguinati, and the rest of their friends have to figure out who is manipulating events designed to pit humans against Others – and who may have put Vicki DeVine in the crosshairs of a powerful hunter.
In Anne Bishop’s newest in the World of the Others, it is the characters that kept me reading. The story is engrossing, the plot connecting to the rest of the world in interesting ways but ultimately, it is her characters that kept me engaged in the novel.
I had read Wild Country, the previous novel and found the characters powerful and engaging. So I was curious about the next in the series. One of the more interesting factors is that while the world is all connected, the characters have been different in each novel. In Crowbones, Anne Bishop returns to the character of Vicki Devine and The Jumble. I willingly admit I’m late to the party and hadn’t read the previous novel featuring Vicki, which is something I need to rectify because the character is oddly strong in the most unlikely way. In fact, all of the characters are unique and not what you quite expect, including the supernatural predators. Vicki has not had an easy life, isn’t perfect in how she handles the chaos and death around her and that spark of realism is what makes the character so incredible. Surrounded by others trying to solve the problem of Crowbones, Chief Grimshaw, Ilya Sanguinati, and the rest of their friends, Vicki also doesn’t give up. Part mystery, part exploration of human nature under pressure, and more on the side of the monsters than the humans, the World of the Others explores what it would be like if humans aren’t in charge of the world and I loved every minute.
If you like a unique perspective on the supernatural, a different world where things aren’t so friendly for humans and humans who have strength despite the odds, I truly recommend Crowbones. It continues the world without requiring you to have read the other novels. Anne Bishop catches you up quickly and the events in the previous books, while tied loosely to this one, still allow each book to stand alone. The book is powerful, the characters unforgettable, and the plot riveting.
Rating: 5 out of 5
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