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 World of the Others  and is loosely tied to The Others 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 The Others  series) so there are a few spoilers in WILD COUNTRY.

Anne Bishop is a master at creating multi-dimensional 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 giveWILD COUNTRY a try! It's one of the best books I've read this year!