When it comes to "The Others" I find it next to impossible to stay unbiased since this is one of the most unique series being written today. The mix of characters and the way you are brought into the mindset of each of them draws you deep into these stories and you wish they would never end.

This book as with the previous one is in a new locality, Bennett is not 100% new since we have heard of it before in the original books. It is a bit less settled than any of the other books and while it is almost a "day-in-the-life" telling for a lot of the book, it is uniquely addicting (and sometimes humorous) to watch Others, humans, Intuits and the blood prophets all learn to work together.

As with most of these books there are always a few humans that think they can do what they want and that becomes part of the endgame plot and things are not exactly like you thought they might be since you somehow get the idea that all of these Others are something close to Superman and are invulnerable, you find that that is not exactly the case.

I had heard that this might be the last book at least for awhile and that the author was going to work on another series and while I hated to hear that the ending to this does give a good place to stop and figure out where it goes from here, I hope it is not THE END but just a break to get a direction.

Bottom Line: This still remains one of the most entertaining, well written, captivating and unique series in urban fantasy and no list of superlatives really capture it for me. So 5 Stars since that is all I can give and still wish they have a class of books you could just label as Masterpiece Class and put those very few books like this one in it.

This captivating story from the world of The Others focuses on the town of Bennett situated in the Midwest near the Elder Hills with the nearby Intuit settlement of Prairie Gold. They main characters Jana Paniccia, Jesse Walker and her son, Tobias, Barb Debaney, and Tolya Sanguinati, were introduced in the Others #4, MARKED IN FLESH. This story runs concurrently with the timeline with some events from #5 ETCHED IN BONE so the catastrophic actions that occurred during the Great Predation when the Elders decided to brutally thin the human herds have just happened a short time ago.

The Elders are allowing Bennett to be resettled but run entirely by the terra indigene with Tolya Sanguinati as mayor and Virgil Wolfgard as the “snarly” sheriff. Jana Paniccia agreed to take a job as a deputy in this frontier town where life is much as it was back in the early frontier days. Many new people have come to take over the grim task of cleaning out the homes and businesses of the previous population that was totally annihilated by the angry Elders in response to the Humans First and Last created war. Every man, women, and child was taken out, only the Intuits who have been friends of the terra indigene survived in Prairie Gold. Many people are moving to Bennett, most of them good, but some very bad outlaws who want to take over the town have nefarious plans to overthrow Mayor Tolya and his terra indigene council. A new crop of villains, and for the first time they are Intuits, are shown in a negative light using their inborn skills to swindle humans. The Blackstone Clan of Intuits prey on those left alive by travelling the available railways. A former member of their clan has been hiding out in Prairie Gold for some years.

One group of settlers has with them a young blood prophet whom they rescued. More terra indigene are also moving into the area, regrouping after their own losses. Saul, a Panthergard, shows up with an unusual foster “nephew” of his own: a young man who has connections to the cassandra sangues that will intrigue fans of this series. Jana’s boss, Virgil, barely tolerates humans; he and Jana have quite a lot to figure out between them in order to work together without teeth biting or bullets flying. Sparks take wing in another way as Jana and Tobias Walker form an intriguing relationship as well as two other characters. Those of us who have wished for a bit more romance in this Urban Fantasy series will be pleased.

It is hard not to shake one’s head watching the people who never seem to catch on to the fact that the Elders will no longer tolerate bad humans. And Elder/terra indigene justice bites back in a fatal way. This tale took me on an intense and sometimes very emotional journey with these known characters and the new ones. It is thrilling and satisfying to be back in this creative and sometimes very scary world. Readers will be well pleased and very interested to see life from the perspective of this newly reformed frontier town and how its inhabitants cope with the new paradigm where humans have lost much of, and in some places, all of their autonomy. The land is all wild country now.

There is almost nothing more than the dark almost creepy world that Bishop has created in The Others series.

With all the supernatural creatures we have all come to know, love and become fascinated with, but with a darker more sinister, no nonsense twist that is completely unique and one I completely adore.

Even though I miss Meg, Simon and all the gang from the original series so very much, I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to know after the first book in the spin off, Lake Silence, was just as fascinating and fantastic as the original, I was to know we would be getting more.

Getting over that initial reservation of can Bishop really pull it off again, I can say with complete confidence and honesty, that why, yes, yes she can.

In fact, this is one of my most favorite books in the series to date. I just loved everything about it from the town, to the people, to the pack...just, it was so much of what I loved about the original but with whole new characters that were every bit as loveable as the original.

Truly this series is just getting better and Meg and Simon or no Meg and Simon, it truly is worth it to pick up and get a darker, more frightening taste of what The Others is all about.

Jana Paniccia has always wanted to be a cop. She studied hard, dealt with harassment over her gender in the police academy, and was the only woman who graduated… only to have difficulty getting any sort of job offer. The opportunity to work in Bennett is one she can’t refuse. The world has changed since the terra indigene literally decimated entire populations of cities after the rise of the Humans First and Last movement. Small enclaves of humans and terra indigene are slowly trying to find peace together after so much death and the small frontier-like town of Bennett is of those places. But can Jana handle the WILD COUNTRY when outlaws come to town to upset the uneasy truce between the terra indigene and the humans?

WILD COUNTRY is the second book in the <i>World of the Others</i> and is loosely tied to <i>The Others</i> series. New readers can easily jump right into WILD COUNTRY as the story line is separate from the prior book in the series. Readers should note, however, that this book occurs during the same time frame as ETCHED IN BONE (book 5 in <i>The Others</i> series) so there are a few spoilers in WILD COUNTRY.

Anne Bishop is a master at creating multidimensional characters and making us care about what happens to them, even after the last page of the book has been turned. I had to remind myself numerous times that this was the first time I’d encountered most of the fabulous characters featured in WILD COUNTRY. I can easily envision all sorts of stories emerging from Bennett, whether it’s Maddie and her position as a cassandra sangue, Joshua Painter who is straddling between the human and Panthergard worlds, or the budding romance between Jana and Tobias Walker. The hints we get about the Sanguinati have me especially fascinated, even more so since Jesse Walker now knows a piece of their secrets that other humans don’t.

And oh, Cowboy Bob! Each and every encounter with Cowboy Bob is priceless. I’m still amazed how something as simple as a stuffed toy conveys quite a few laughs while showing the growing care that the terra indigene are feeling for their human packmates. The “Me Time” moments were another dose of needed humor, but I loved Cowboy Bob as much as I loved the actual characters. I almost loved Cowboy Bill more than the Sproingers (from LAKE SILENCE)!

WILD COUNTRY is yet another stunning dark fantasy novel penned by the gifted Anne Bishop. WILD COUNTRY is the sort of read you sit down and savor, even as the tension mounts and you want to turn the pages quickly to see what happens next. Anne Bishop truly knows how to craft a novel that readers sink into as the outside world goes away and we’re caught up in the dangerous tensions between humans and the terra indigene (and never mind the fearsome Elders). If you love dark fantasy, then you must give WILD COUNTRY a try! It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year!

*review is in the editing queue at Fresh Fiction*

Wild Country by Anne Bishop is another wonderful exciting story in her World of the Others series. This series continues in the same world as the original The Others series. Though this is the second book, it takes place in another town that is controlled by the terra indigene, with the Elders close by to act if necessary. The Elders, who are terrifying, have wiped out many human towns, after the murder of many of the terra indigene. They have agreed to allow small towns of small group of humans to work with the others. Those of you have read my reviews; know that I am a huge fan of Anne Bishop. I have read every series & books she has written, and loved them all.

The town of Bennett is lead by Tolya Sanguinatti (a vampire), and sheriff, Virgil Wolfgard, who has a strong dislike for humans, after losing his mate, and pack in the attack by humans. Within the town, there is also an intuit village of humans that work together with the terra indigene. Jesse Walker, the intuit leader, requests help to fill the town with humans & others to rebuild the town with stores, a saloon and offices, as they are desperate for workers. Tolya makes that request to Simon (our original hero) at Lakeside to send prospects. One of those sent to Bennett was Jana Panica, a young female cop, who gets to work with Virgil, and she becomes the major heroine in this book. The interaction between Virgil and Jana was difficult at first, but at times humorous, especially when Jana adopts one of the stray dogs. In time, Virgil will learn to trust Jana’s instincts and accept her; a slow friendship of respect between them will surface.

At the midway point there is a partthat goes back to the end of The Others series when Meg was kidnapped, and the entire towns close to Lakeside are all tense, fearing the worst. Of course, if you have not read Etched in Bone, you may want to read that book first. This does give the humans a glimpse of how the others work, and when they need to hide.

The key to this story is another bad group of humans, called the Blackstone Clan, who are gamblers and outlaws, who decide that want to take over Bennett. Slowly, they will bring in many of the outlaw friends and plan to attack the shifters, vampires and humans. Will Bennett survive or will the Elders return to kill the remaining humans?

I really liked many of the townsfolk we got to know more of, such as Jesse, her son Tobias (a romance interest for Jana), Barb, Tolya, John, and many of those wonderful characters that Bishop always gives us. We also get to meet a young cassangra sangue, and another one (Hope) in a different town that can see the evil that is coming to prepare them all. We really never see the Elders, but Bishop manages to show us how terrifying they are through the fear in other people’s eyes
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What follows is an exciting enthralling story that grabs our attention at the start and keeps us glued until the very end. The last half of the book was very intense, pulse pounding, especially when the evil people were determined to bring harm to Bennett and take over the town. Wild Country was another fantastic ride in this wonderful world of the Others. I have said this before; no one does Fantasy in so many different types of worlds better then Anne Bishop, and I look forward to anything she gives us. She is a master at her world building, with wonderful characters. I suggest you go back to the original series, and read The Others, then gradually come to this series. You will not regret it.

Bennett was wiped off the map by the Elders, because they wiped out a Wolf pack. Recovery will take time and volunteers. This is the story of the Others and selected humans are resettled and trying to recreate a town. But danger is circling, lots of outlaws, gamblers and opportunists are also looking for a place to resettle. This is the story of a grumpy Wolf, a girl who dreamed of being the sheriff and the town that they patrol. Takes place at the same time as [book:Etched in Bone|22062213].

Why I started this book: Bishop is hands down one of my favorite authors, and I'm always eager to get my hands on her latest book.

Why I finished it: I read this book in one gulp, and then reread in the next week and it's still taken me another week to write this review. It's a great story, fun to read, just not the story that I was expecting to read... and like all of Bishop's stories, I want more. More scenes, more adventures, more time in the amazing world she's created and more time with her characters.

Wild Country is the latest novel by Anne Bishop. It’s also the latest in her Others series, though the numbering may be confusing. Its #7 in the Others series, and #2 in the World of the Others series. Two books ago, Anne Bishop finished the main plot for the Others, and thus the last two books have been focused on others stories within the same world. That’s the reason for the odd numbering system here.
This novel takes place in Bennett – it’s a town that has come up in previous novels. The one that got trashed by the Elders. Bennett has since become a mixed community, with terra indigene, Intuits, Simple Folk, and humans all in one place. Based on events in the last few novels, we already know that this is a recipe for trouble.
I know not everyone loves that the last two books have included different characters, but I personally have really enjoyed seeing other parts of the world. It’s also been fun to learn more about characters related to the cast we already know.

<Spoiler>

Warnings: Like the novels before this one, there are a lot of heavy and sensitive subjects included. The blood prophets don’t play as big of a role in this one, but they do make an appearance, so there is some self-harming included. There are also kidnappings, torture, rape, and animal death. A lot of these scenes you can mostly see coming, but consider yourself warned.
Wild Country was an amazing and fast-paced read. I mean it when I say that I didn’t want to put this novel down. I wasn’t able to read it in one sitting, so I did have to cave and do exactly that. But my thoughts were constantly drawn back to the book every time I was away from it.
I went into this novel expecting a fair amount of brutality. I mean, based on what caused this town to be empty, can you blame me? It ended up being slightly calmer than I expected, but not by a whole lot. So don’t go into this book expecting an easy read.
Having this novel be all about rehabilitating Bennett was an interesting choice. I loved the concept, and honestly, I was looking forward to seeing the mixed community in action. I knew that it wouldn’t be perfect, and I also expected that any problems that came up would likely be the fault of the humans. That seems to be the case a lot, huh?
It was so much fun learning about some of the characters we’ve seen mentioned before, like Barb (Barbara) Debany, Virgil, Toyla, and all the others. Most of these characters were merely mentioned. A couple had a small appearance previously, but that was about it. So it was refreshing to see their part of the world get fleshed out.
A lot of the newer characters introduced were fascinating. Even if, at this point, we had a good understanding of their species. I kept looking forward to all the scenes including Scythe, for example. I thought she was a really interesting character and honestly wouldn’t mind seeing more of her.
Anne Bishop did a good job of building up the tension in this novel. There was always something going on, either to distract the characters or to pit them against one another. It kept things moving forward swiftly. And it obviously made me concerned about the conclusion of this novel. That’s the real reason why I didn’t want to put this book down.
She also did a brilliant job showing the prejudices from all side. I actually feel like she did a better job here than in previous novels. Which is saying something. The humans had reasons to be afraid. Virgil had reasons to hate humans. Jana had a reason to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder. And Toyla had reasons to be frustrated with everybody. It all worked, and it helped to add to the tension. The fact that they all had reasons for their biases helped to show us that there’s so much more going on here than meets the eye.
I’m pretty sad to have already finished Wild Country. I know there probably won’t be another novel for a while since I’m pretty sure that Anne Bishop is now working on the next Black Jewel novel. Not that I’m complaining about that, of course. I do hope that we’ll see another novel in this world at some point. Here’s hoping she hasn’t gotten tired of that world just yet!

This review was originally posted on <a href="http://booksofmyheart.net/2019/02/22/wild-country-by-anne-bishop/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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I completely love <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/99557-the-others" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><strong>The Others series</strong></em></a> and the continuation in the World of the Others books, telling us about various outlying communities has the same setup. I would definitely start at the beginning since it will help you understand the world and characters, as well as character types, better and it's an amazing story.   The world has the blood prophets, sanguinati, shifters, elementals, and elders, Intuits and humans.

Books 1-3 and Book 5 in the series are all focused around the Courtyard with the primary characters of Meg and Simon and many wonderful others.  Book 4, <strong>Marked in Flesh</strong>, is more global in its focus and has SO many characters it was difficult to follow or connect with them all.  It was my least favorite in the series at that point.

Now, <strong>Lake Silence</strong> and <strong>Wild Country</strong>, each show us the development of a community after the war.  Mostly all the characters are new but in the same types.  In both books, there are Others and humans, working together and building trust and relationships, and there are greedy humans who want power or easy wealth who come to town and cause an upset.  The timeline in <strong>Wild Country</strong> is a bit intertwined with <strong>Etched in Bone</strong> and around the same time or just before <strong>Lake Silence</strong>.

I was very happy to get more plot around the blood prophets and the Intuit people this time.  I am curious to see if the following books will be similar with new characters and a new town but a similar timeline and plot. I would love to see a bit more global book based around the blood prophets, or maybe the Intuits, and what is happening to them. However the series continues, I am sure I will be reading it.

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If you see an Anne Bishop book - don't pass it up! REALLY! Don't pass it up! She is masterful at building a world of creatures that is totally fascinating and pulls you in from the very first page. Along with a great story she mixes in humor, writing from an "others" point of view and how they view humans and our peculiarities. If you haven't read "The Others" series that would be the place to start. A book typically comes out every spring. I start looking for an opportunity to read an ARC in January. Cannot recommend these books more highly!

Absolute fan of this series, and it never disappoints. In this book, I wasn’t sure at what timeframe it would pick up and it actually goes to a parallel timeframe with the original stories of Simon and the Others at Lakeside courtyard. I was expecting a continuation of Vicki DeVine’s story, and I actually still really want to know how her story turns out. In any case, this one focuses on the town of Bennett, and the characters that live there.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again for anyone who may be new to my reviews for this series: I absolutely love this world and each book that offers a larger glimpse into it.
The breakdown of the series is a bit wonky. The first five books follow the Lakeside Courtyard and largely the same cast of characters. These are called The Others. There are now two books set in the same world but in different towns. They are both books six and seven in The Others and books one and two in The World of the Others. I’d recommend starting at the very beginning with Written in Red but you could probably start with the first World of the Others book and be mostly okay but you wouldn’t know some references.
Wild Country is set in a town called Bennett that shares a border with the wild country where the Elders live. All human inhabitants were previously wiped out by the Elders due to bad behavior from humanity as a whole. Now the town is being rebuilt with humans, the Others, and rules much more strict than before.
My absolute favorite thing about this series is how Anne Bishop explores intricate parts of relationships and interactions between humans and the Others. It’s like she gets into the mind of vampires and shifters of all kinds (wolf, crow, panther, etc.) and so beautifully brings their individual qualities to your attention. This series is especially great for fans of fantasy, urban fantasy, and dystopian genres.

Wild Country will be out on March 5, 2019. I was given a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Wild Country book tells a harrowing tale of how little control the humans have left in a world ruled by the Others. The story is set in the frontiers town Bennett sometime around the 3rd and 4th book of the Others series. Anyone familiar with the main series will immediately feel right at home but that doesn't mean that the book is only suitable for veterans of the series. It undoubtedly is nice to be able to recognise familiar names and places but not being familiar with it is certainly no deal breaker.

How do you accurately describe a book that leaves you utterly and unequivocally satisfied from beginning to end? There are no “right” set of words to convey that. Wild Country gives readers a taste of the previous series and a great grasp on live post Meg/Simon. It delivers everything that readers of this series would want in a new story with new characters. A great plot, richly developed characters, and the teases of old favorites. It is a masterful weave of suspense in a diverse world of characters. My only hope is that there is more to come in the future.

I decided to put this one down for the time being; it felt very monotonous and has lost the magic of the first series. It's the same plot, with the same over the top villains and the first 20% was a struggle to get through. And as this is one of my favorite series, I'm a little disappointed? But I'll definitely come back to it and finish it.

This installment in the world of The Others follows several people who reside in the small town of Bennett, which has been afflicted pretty badly when the Elders went on a bit of a rampage. This story runs concurrently to a lot of Etched in Bone, and there are a few cameos from characters from that book.

Jesse Walker and her son Tobias are Intuit that live in the small town of Prairie Gold just adjacent to Bennett. They are helping Tolya Sanguinati, the mayor of Bennett, with the resettlement process.

Jana is fresh out of police academy, and the only woman to have graduated in her class. She is given a mysterious message from a stranger to head to the city of Lakeside. Once there, she gets a job as a deputy sheriff of Bennett. The sheriff, Virgil Wolfgard, and his deputy Kane are the only two adult Wolfgard that survived the human assault on Bennett that ended up causing the Elders to retaliate and destroy a goodly portion of humanity on the continent of Thaisia.

Abigail is an Intuit (people who are, for lack of a better term, a bit clairvoyant about things) pretending to be someone she isn’t. She fled from her gambler and hustler father into the arms of a young husband who promised to bring her somewhere very remote, and did, but her Intuit powers are coming to light and her marriage is falling apart because of it.

Evan and his partner Kenneth come to town with their four kids, all of whom are orphans that they saved on their travels. What has the terra indigine of Bennett up in arms is that three of the kids are Others, and one is a blood prophet, a cassandra sangue. She must be protected as much as possible, and so when they settle into a house in town, the Others move in around them to protect her.

Scythe rolls into town wanting to open a frontier-style saloon in town. Which is just fine, except that she, like Tess in the earlier Others books, is a Harvester, a Plague Rider. One of the most dangerous and lethal types of terra indigine that there is. Scythe is a bit new at mingling with humans. Also, that’s Madam Scythe to you.

And then a group of outlaws called the Blackstone Clan comes to down, and of course shenanigans ensue when they do.

All told, I have to say that I liked this one more than I liked Lake Silence, as there were more characters to follow, making it a little more broad a plotline. Where Lake Silence felt like the continuing adventures of Meg Corbyn only in a different place with a different name, this volume followed many people who were different enough and had their own stories that it felt familiar but still new. I will admit that there were times that Virgil Wolfgard felt like Simon 2.0 though, but it didn’t end up bothering me so much. Lots happens in this one, just like other books in the Others series. We see a lot of the day to day life of a few people who live in this frontier town on the borders of the wild country. Someone even gets laid in this volume, guys! Hooray!! :D

Bennett was mentioned at times in the original series, and so it felt at least partially familiar. Tolya Sanguinati and Jesse Walker were characters that I had already been introduced to. It was interesting seeing a small mixed town of people come together and form a working community. I especially liked the relationship between Virgil Wolfgard and his deputy, Jana and how it grew over the course of the book, as well as that of Jana and Tobias Walker. I definitely loved Tolya Sanguinati as well. He is a good example of one of the Others who is, at times, not very Other… and at times also very, very Other. Like I have said in the past, I am a sucker for the Sanguinati (#notsorry) as characters. They bring an interesting element into a world that I already find rather interesting.

My chief complaint (and only complaint, really) with this one is a pretty similar complaint that I had towards both Lake Silence and Etched in Bone as well. The antagonists were really kind of ridiculous.

Every antagonist in this book is so over-the-top bad that my eyes rolled a bit once or twice. I mean they’re already clearly described as outlaws, gamblers and cheaters and what have you, and that are coming to wreak havoc on Bennett. And yet, despite that, pretty every time any of these characters were in a scene, they were abusing, raping, or murdering someone in ways that just seemed forced and were just there for shock value. For instance, a dude walks into a bar full of people and immediately assaults a woman for absolutely no discernible reason. That kind of thing.

The main villain is a guy who is made out to be so clever and devious that he can con his way to whatever he wants. Now, that said, here’s a quick reminder that this book takes place right after the terra indigine Elders very easily killed off a huge chunk of the human population of this entire continent for attacking the terra indigine.

So, I mean… of course our super clever antagonists attack the terra indigine. Of course they do. S-M-R-T.

But, I still liked this one quite a bit despite the awful antagonists, because the protagonists and the way they all came together to make a town work made this book fun for me, and that seemed to be the real driving force of this story. I liked these characters and I can honestly say I would love to read more about the continuing adventures of the town of Bennett.

It was a pretty fun read, and was hard to put down, so I finished it in just about a day. I said to myself after not liking Lake Silence very much that it was probably just a dud and that I would continue one nonetheless because I love the world of the Others, and I think the terra indigine are brilliant beings to read about. Well, here I am, and I’ll definitely be sticking around here for the next in the series too! But I really hope that the bad guys of Thaisia start getting smarter. Here’s hoping!

Thanks to the author, as well as Ace via NetGalley for the review copy!~

I both read and listened to this ARC of Wild Country. You know a book/series is a winner when you finish an eighteen hour audio and are depressed because it’s over! Such was the case with Wild Country by Ann Bishop, the second book in the World of Others and seventh in the Others series. This is a series I listen to first, own the hardcover and proudly display my fandom. It is also one of a handful that I regularly pick up and read again and again.

Brilliant, Bishop once again pulled me in. As readers we often ask each other what famous author we'd like to have dinner with. Anne Bishop is definitely someone I'd love to break bread with. Full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer on March 5 and will be shared on all social media, Goodreads and Amazon.

The town of Bennett was annihilated by the Others. Only household pets were spared. Now the Others are deciding whether or not there is value in repopulating the city; whether the city is essential to the survival of the humans and Others living nearby. Slowly the Others let a few people in: someone to take care of the pets, a few people to clean out houses and salvage what they can, and a female deputy to balance out the Wolfguard sheriff. But as word gets out more and more people are attracted to the town. Some see adventure and opportunity in reopening businesses and living alongside the Others. Gamblers, thieves, and con artists see an easy mark. The question is whether one misstep by one human will destroy everything the Others - and humans - are trying to build.

Fans of The Others series have been waiting for Wild Country since the publication of Etched in Bone in 2017. The town of Bennett and it's residents were alluded to and discussed in that novel, whetting the appetites of readers. Wild Country doesn't disappoint. At all. Well-written, captivating, and full of memorable, likable characters. I hope there's a sequel!

Any visit back into Anne Bishop's Other's world is a treat for me. It is one of my all time favorite series. As the second spinoff from the Other's, we're still in the same world, just not with my beloved characters from the original series. A whole new cast of characters was welcome, while a frontier like town and a group of villains only added to the experience.

The world of the Others is unlike any fantasy world I had ever read or probably will ever read. Just the imagination that it took to conceive of this world is mind boggling. It's certainly not anything like the world as we know it, although it takes place on earth. Some names of places are vaguely similar to the names as we know them, other's not so much. However, the big difference is that animals, vampires, and other even more scary creatures control the world for the most part. Animals that can shift into human form, but would much rather be in their true form. These are definitely not your normal shifter romantic heroes. In fact, there is no inter-species love, although they can mate-just not the forever kind of mating.
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Jana Paniccia is a young woman just out of the police academy in a profession where females are frowned upon. Because of this she can't find a job until she is finally sent to a town that has recently been cleared of people in a brutal way. Hence the reason no one else wants to relocate there. The terra indigene have reclaimed the town and are letting humans slowly settle back into the empty houses. Her new boss is Virgil a large wolf with a deep hatred of humans. He lost most of his last pack in the war that recently happened. He doesn't want to work with a human but grudgingly takes her on. The leader of the town is a Sanguinati (vampire) named Tolya. He was one of my favorites of all, along with Jana and Virgil. A human rancher named Tobias was a good character and a love interest for Jana. His mother, Jesse Walker, lives in a town nearby but is very important to the story as well. I could go on and on as there is a huge cast of characters. I admit to getting confused at times as to who was who.

The terra indigene want to have a town with humans that they can control and refuse to let any bad elements settle there. Well there's always that one group that think they can get around any rule or law isn't there? That's the crux of the story here. It's told from multiple points of view so that we slowly learn who is who and what the bad guys are up to. That was a problem for me a bit as I thought the story was a bit slow to take off in the beginning. Of course, I was interested, it just took me a bit longer to start flipping pages non-stop.
As usual, I enjoyed all the terra indigene and human interactions, especially Jana's and Virgil's. I loved seeing how they adapt to each other slowly and that part pretty much warmed my heart. Alas, things get pretty dangerous in Bennett and fur begins flying-in more ways than one.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book. I do hope Bishop writes about this world many more times as I can only imagine even more interesting creatures and the humans they tolerate. I think this was my favorite of the two spin-off books although book one, Lake Silence, was very well written as well. You really should read the Others first as this series may confuse you if you don't. Highly recommended to urban fantasy and fantasy readers. My thanks to Net Galley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. 4.25 stars!

Wild Country is the book I was expecting when I first picked up Lake Silence so I was really excited that we were being given the chance to catch up with familiar faces from Prairie Gold and Bennett. Bennett's human population was wiped out in the war started by the Humans First and Last group, only the Intuit settlement at Prairie Gold survived but they're pretty cut off now that Bennett is a ghost town. Thanks to their connection to people at the Lakeside Courtyard the Elders have decided to allow Bennett to be resettled, but only as a terra indigene run town. Humans who can live in peace will be tolerated but anyone who crosses the line will be punished severely.

Timeline wise the first half of this book runs alongside events in Etched in Bone, we get to see the applicants accepted at the job fair arrive in Bennett and start work on creating a new community and we also get to see how the terra indigene living there react to the news of Meg's abduction. I still miss Meg and Simon as main characters but I loved getting the chance to catch up with familiar faces like Jesse, her son Tobias and the sanguinati town leader Tolya. I also really enjoyed getting to know Barbara Ellen (Michael's sister who went to Bennett to be the town vet) and the new human deputy Jana who arrived to work alongside the existing wolfgard Sheriff Virgil & deputy Kane.

It's been fun getting to see more of this world and how Others in different areas react to the humans they are now far more wary of thanks to the HFL. We also get to see how the blood prophets are settling in and continuing to learn about their own abilities which was something I was very happy about. I think my main issue with this book was that the humans were still able to cause so much trouble. The Others were on high alert thanks to some worrying prophecies, the Elders were watching and had clearly marked the boundaries where humans were allowed and where they weren't and yet we still had a group of humans able to sneak in and cause so much devastation.

I could have understood the Others laying a trap, letting the humans think their plan was working but I found it impossible to believe that the Elders didn't spot these encroachers on their territory and do something about them. The battle scenes could have been epic if it had been revealed that the Elders and the rest of the terra indigene had been working together to lay a huge trap but instead they were caught off guard and once again paid the price when many lives were lost. It was heartbreaking to read about and just didn't feel realistic to me considering everything that had gone before.

That battle came pretty close to ruining this story for me but I enjoyed the rest so much that I can't rate the book less than 4 stars. The truth is that I devoured all 7 books in about 9 days because I was so addicted to this series that I couldn't stop reading! That should give you an idea of how invested I became in this world and how skilful Ann Bishop is as a writer. It's been a long time since I last devoured a series like that and I know I'll be rereading the books regularly in the future. I'm not sure if Anne Bishop is done with this world but I really hope that she'll give us at least a few more books because I'm still not ready to say goodbye.

I absolutely love the amazing world Anne Bishop has created for The Others series. The paranormal beings aren't romanticized and shown in a heroic light. They are something to be afraid of because they will always protect their own first. They don't think or act like humans. They are and always will be predators. If you have read the previous books then some names will sound familiar but there are also a lot of new faces. Expect multiple POVs, but I have come to realize that I really love seeing how each character is thinking and why they are acting a certain way. There are multiple story-lines but the author did an incredible job in weaving it into one book.

"We are here. We are different but we stand united to protect our home. We are different but we protect our families, whether they are families by blood or by heart. We are different but we are not alone. Never alone. We are here."

Wild Country was action-packed, suspenseful, funny, heartbreaking, ruthless, original, and very intriguing. I loved the thought process and seeing how the Others reacted to certain situations. The confrontations between different beings was very interesting and it sometimes had me on the edge of my seat. I am just so invested in this world and characters. This book was unpredictable and had my attention from start until finish. I just hope we will get a lot more books set in this unique fantasy world, because I can't wait to see how this world and the relationships will develop further.