Written in Red by Anne Bishop is a book I have had on my Kindle for nearly six years. I have no idea why it has taken me so long to get around to read it and I am not sure when it would have come to my notice had I not started this challenge. I suspect that there are others lingering on my device where I have done the same thing, because I have mostly tried to read the physical books which accumulate in piles and make themselves much more obvious.
This book is an urban fantasy – that is, it is a book about a world that resembles our own but which includes supernatural characters as well. The world in this book has long been occupied by the Others, supernatural people, and humans have been pushed to the edges and accepted as long as they are useful to the Others. In Lakeside the Others live in a secluded community in a town which is mainly human, although they also control the area outside the town. In this community the wolfshifter Simon is trying to find ways for humans and Others to live more easily alongside each other, although there are many reservations on both sides. Meg is a special sort of human who can make a prophecy when she cuts herself. She has been exploited for this gift and runs away. She ends up working for Simon as his human liaison, although dangerous people want her to return to them and are searching her out.
This isn’t a particularly original novel – I have found aspects of the story which also exist in the urban fantasy novels of Kelley Armstrong, Charlaine Harris, Maria Vale and Patricia Briggs, among others. It is, however, well thought through and written in a fast paced way. There is a lot of information dumping in the first few chapters but, after you get through that, this is a thriller with a touch of romance. The author has created lots of different supernatural creatures and many characters, each with their own lives and concerns. I found myself invested in what happens to Meg. Will she be recaptured ? Will the Others allow her to live unscathed among them ? How can her gift be of use to her new friends ? How will her relationship with Simon develop ?
I was, in fact, so taken with this book, which is the first in a series, that I have now purchased the second novel – this is not really the way to tackle the to-be-read issue !
Anne Is Reading 