Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Fluke and the Faithless Father
SERIES: The Fantastic Fluke Book 2
AUTHOR: Sam Burns
NARRATOR: Zachary Johnson
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 7 hours and 55 minutes
RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2021
BLURB:
After escaping a murderer and resurrecting his boyfriend, Sage figures he deserves a little time to recover.
Unfortunately, life is rarely fair.
So instead of a break, he gets to deal with a magical law enforcement rookie asking uncomfortable questions about his brush with death. The quaesitor is acting downright suspicious. Or is it suspiciously?
Things go from awkward to dangerous when the man who murdered Sage’s mother is released from prison, and soon after there’s a break-in at the bookstore. The situation escalates so fast that Sage is afraid he’s going to end up with whiplash. Or worse, end up dead. He wanted a break, but not a permanent one.
Fluke and the Faithless Father is a direct sequel to The Fantastic Fluke, and should not be read first. It is an ~85k word novel that follows the continuing adventures of Sage, Fluke, Gideon, and their whole family, found and otherwise.
REVIEW:
Fluke and the Faithless Father, the second book in Sam Burns’ refreshingly different and expertly executed paranormal M/M romance series, The Fantastic Fluke, is as enthralling as the series’ titular first book. The Fantastic Fluke series contains a continuing storyline, so Fluke and the Faithless Father should not be read as a standalone. The plot contains plenty of magic, as does Ms. Burns’ writing, organically revealing twists and turns in the narrative that will keep you glued to the story. As such, you’ll appreciate the book best if you have little prior knowledge of its contents.
In the first book, The Fantastic Fluke, we met Sage, the befuddled, disbelieving mage, his furry, foxy friend/familiar, Fluke, and Gideon, former ghost mentor and current boyfriend of Sage.
Fluke and the Faithless Father sees the return of Sage, Gideon, and Fluke, as well as Sage’s BFF Beez, his Grandmother Iris, and we meet some new characters as well. The storyline from The Fantastic Fluke continues and is expanded here. Sage’s horrible father is still inhabiting the bookstore and spewing his vitriol to anyone who will listen. Per the title, his father plays a vital role in this story as Sage starts to grapple with his abilities and what it means for him. The story is a paranormal romance with a definite lean towards the magic and action surrounding the conspiracy against Sage.
That’s not to say that romance and steam aren’t present, though. They certainly are. Ms. Burns spins out a highly creative, vivid, witty narrative chock full of sweet romance between Sage and Gideon and an ever-growing found family. The action and events in this story have weight and seriousness, even violent at times, which Ms. Burns adeptly offsets with snark and humor and some lovely lovey-dovey moments between Sage and Gideon.
The audiobook of Fluke and the Faithless Father is brought to life by Zachary Johnson, a new(ish) entrant to the world of M/M. Mr. Johnson did not narrate the audio for book one, and the narrator switch is pronounced, especially because Mr. Johnson’s vocal style contrasts with that of Joel Leslie, the narrator of The Fantastic Fluke.
Switching narrators mid-series can be a tricky proposition, which, I imagine, is why authors don’t do it often. Hopefully, Ms. Burns didn’t fret too much about it here, though, because Mr. Johnson is excellent. There is no coattail riding either. Mr. Johnson’s performance stands on its own, distinctive and impressive.
Mr. Johnson’s resonant baritone adds liveliness and provides momentum to a story that relies heavily on internal monologuing. He’s highly expressive, thoughtfully conveying not just the words but the full context in which they are said. He’s also quite attuned to vocal dynamics, something a lot of narrators gloss over. He faithfully relays, for example, a stage whisper (which happens at one point in a conversation between Sage and Freddy), or a blustering shout (which happens often with Uncle Roger).
Mr. Johnson makes considered choices with all of the characters’ voices, not just Sage and Gideon. He imbues them with tone and pitch befitting their characters. For example, Freddy’s father, Sage’s nasty Uncle Roger, is a bombastic blowhard. Accordingly, Mr. Johnson gives Uncle Roger a deep, booming voice when he’s pompously ranting and a petulant, hissing voice when he’s angry and frustrated when he’s not getting his way. Sage gets a mid-range baritone voice that’s strong, smooth, and tinged with an edge of sarcasm.
Across the board, Mr. Johnson provides appropriate pacing and consistent, distinctive delivery between the character’s voices. However, the pitch of the female voices, Beez and Iris, is too low, almost masculine sounding. Mr. Johnson provides the same engaged performance delivered with suitable intonation and emphasis, but some nuances are lost in the alto pitch.
That being said, it’s a minor complaint, especially in the greater context of Mr. Johnson’s invested, excellent vocal performance across the eight-hour run time for the Fluke and the Faithless Father audiobook. This book holds its own in print, yet Mr. Johnson’s audio made this an unputdownable story that effortlessly held my attention. Time flew by, but my attention never wavered, and that is the hallmark of a superb audiobook.
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