Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: The Fantastic Fluke

SERIES: The Fantastic Fluke Book 1

AUTHOR: Sam Burns

NARRATOR:  Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 8 hours and 13 minutes

RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2021

BLURB: 

A lost fox. A gorgeous ghost. And an unlikely partnership to stop a murderer. 

Since his mother’s murder, Sage McKinley doesn’t live, he exists. His weak magic has made him an outcast, shadowing his life with self-doubt. All that changes when the spirit of a gunslinger appears in his bookstore with a message that will flip Sage’s world upside down. According to the mesmerizing apparition, a powerful magic lies within Sage…if he can find a way to tap into it. 

But dastardly threats accompany this untapped power. Bodies are piling high as a killer hunts for the secrets of the mage that now course through Sage’s veins. Can Sage find the confidence to embrace all he’s capable of? Or will the next life snuffed out be his own?

REVIEW: 

🦊  🦊  🦊

In Sam Burns’ The Fantastic Fluke, we meet Sage, the confused, overwhelmed mage in denial, Fluke, Sage’s saucy, spirited fox familiar, and Gideon, a disgruntled, sleep-deprived ghost.  They all work together to protect Sage from a group of magical zealots that want him dead.  It is a fantasy/paranormal romance, with emphasis on the fantasy/paranormal aspect.  But there is romance too, albeit more subtle, between Sage and Gideon, his magical ghost mentor.  It’s an unusual twist that makes the romance lovely and impactful, especially as it ties into Sage’s own self-discovery of his strength, worth and powers.

Sage’s mother was violently murdered before his eyes when he was only 12 years old.  He was sent to live with an estranged father he had never met before, and probably wishes he had never met at all.  His father’s only interest in Sage was his magical abilities.  When those only manifested at the most minimal level, he had no use for or interest in Sage and took every opportunity to belittle him for his uselessness.  

When The Fantastic Fluke opens, Sage’s father has just died, leaving Sage his bookstore, a lot of books (which Sage loves), but also a lot of responsibility and a ton of questions.  Sage is lonely and lost, not really knowing who he is or what his purpose is.  He’s let his father’s toxicity and comments about worthlessness due to his lack of magic, sink in.  We learn that his father was actually a right bastard to everyone, not just Sage, but Sage gets the brunt of it.  I say “gets” in present tense because Sage’s father refuses to cross-over.  Sage is able to see ghosts, and his father’s ghost haunts the bookstore, continuing to berate Sage for all of his perceived failings.

If you’re wondering where the name of the book comes from, it notably derives from the name of Sage’s fox familiar.  An extremely unusual familiar indicative of a magician with strong powers.  Sage, however, refuses to believe that foxy is his familiar. He’s not worthy of such a gift.  He believes it’s all a fluke that foxy came into his life – hence foxy’s name “Fluke”.

After Fluke and Gideon’s arrival, Sage’s whole life seems to turn around.  Like a caterpillar slowly morphing into a butterfly, we watch Sage work through the realization that he is special, powerful and valuable, and not just because of his magic.  We also see this previously scarred, lonely man find a family and love.  

And let’s not forget about Gideon. There are a lot of parallels between him and Sage.  Gideon is like the ideal man for Sage, both physically and emotionally.  Well, except that he’s dead.  Minor detail that.  But Gideon has his own share of suffering and lack of belief in himself.  Sage is the latest in a long line of mages who Gideon is called back to train.  Once he trains the mage, he disappears, hopefully to finally move on.  The problem is, the mages keep getting killed so Gideon keeps getting called back to train a new mage.  Over and over.  Rinse repeat.  His job is never really done and he never gets peace.

This experience teaches Gideon two things:  First, his own life (and death) are unimportant and have no meaning.  He is just a tool being used to achieve a purpose.  Second, he is a failure, because he never finishes the job.  The mages he’s training keep dying.  So Gideon has his own journey that runs in parallel to Sage’s and they both learn a lot about themselves, and each other, in the process. They fall in love too, which is lovely but problematic given the whole man/ghost thing.  But rest assured, there is a HEA.

Sage’s journey, and Gideon’s alongside his, are captivating, and we are right there with them through it all.  Layer onto it the paranormal story here, which has a murder mystery whodunit at its center and you’ve got an engrossing read that you’ll want to plow through in one sitting.

I will admit that I wasn’t sure what to make of The Fantastic Fluke at first because I was primarily looking for an M/M romance.  I wondered if this book would keep my attention if the romance wasn’t the central aspect of the story.  Well, have no fear because my concerns were unwarranted.  Once you start reading this book, you will not be able to put it down.  

Ms. Burns has provided a creative premise and colorful characters, brought to life through incisive, witty, descriptive and clever writing.  Ms. Burns succeeds in conveying impactful emotional content without making the story too serious or angsty.  There’s snark and humor all throughout which are an excellent counterpoint to the seriousness of the events on page.  Ms. Burns’ development of the found family connections and the love and loyalty between all the characters, but in particular Sage, Gideon and Fluke, is exceptional.

I particularly appreciated the thematic, implicit messaging in the story.  Don’t measure yourself by others’ standards or let them convince you of your worth.  The metaphor of untapped potential inside, like the ley line magic searching for someone to control it and wield it, did not go unnoticed either.  You can be whatever you want to be if you believe in yourself and take control of your own life.

However it happened that Sam Burns connected with Joel Leslie, the narrator of this fantastic audiobook, it was certainly an auspicious event.  Mr. Leslie is a terrific match for Ms. Burns’ storytelling here.  He has an amazing ability to communicate multiple, often contradictory, layers of a character’s personality simultaneously.  It’s one of the reasons why he and Lily Morton will forever be the perfect author/narrator pair.  Lily Morton is the queen of snark, but her intricately, carefully created characters always have great depth.  (Think Gabe in Rule Breaker).  

Similarly, Joel Leslie matches well with Ms. Burns’ storytelling here.  Mr. Leslie expertly delivers Sage’s acerbic wit, snark supreme and spot-on deadpan humor while still layering it with poignancy and angst, and yes, Sage’s endearing cautious optimism.

Sage presents that complicated mix of a wounded soul who wants redemption, love and happiness but isn’t sure how to get there or whether he deserves to get there.  Sage wants to believe but isn’t sure he can trust that he’s worthy of good things, like Fluke, who is absolutely the best thing to happen to him.  Mr. Leslie deftly delivers in each single spoken line the full package of Sage’s conflicting emotions at once, and we feel it. 

This is why Mr. Leslie stands out as a narrator.  His spoken words breathe life into the characters because he inhabits them.  He understands the characters, their motivations, backgrounds and personalities.  He has remarked in interviews that he assiduously prepares for his narrative roles by asking a lot of questions of the author to “research” the characters.  So while a lot of his success in his vocal performance here no doubt comes from good preparation, the greater part is purely attributable to his inherent ability to get in a character’s head and translate the facts he knows about the character into thoughts, actions, demeanor and speech patterns that accurately reflect them at any given moment in the story.

Admittedly, The Fantastic Fluke is a bit different from your typical M/M romance.  However, it is absolutely worth every moment you spend reading it, and then some.  I strongly advocate for enjoying this book through audio because Joel Leslie elevates everything great about Ms. Burns’ creative, well-executed story through his excellent vocal performance. If you haven’t read The Fantastic Fluke, I highly recommend you do.  If you have read The Fantastic Fluke already, I encourage you to “read” it again via the audiobook.  I think you’ll be surprised at how much “more” you get out of the story thanks to Joel Leslie’s narration.  Then I recommend you read the next book in the series, Fluke and the Faithless Father, which is also excellent.  (You can find my thoughts on that book here.)  I can’t wait to hear Joel Leslie’s narration of that book as well.

🦊  🦊  🦊

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon 

Audible