Rating: 5🌈💫
The first in a series, The Fantastic Fluke is another one of those magical tales that author Sam Burns writes so beautifully.
From the opening sentence and our introduction to mage Sage McKinley, we have an immediate understanding of this man’s current situation, his thoughts on his past, his present predicament, even his self image. It’s intimate and concise. And it serves as both a foundation and way to connect the reader emotionally to Sage.
How could it not? Then we get thrown further afterwards as it gets more evidenced that this story is firmly bound to the magical world by ghosts, mages, familiars and murders most supernatural!
Not all the great characters are human, some are delightfully foxy! Or ghostly! Burns has built this story around multiple magical murder mysteries (alliteration is not a key), fantastic layered characters, and a romance.
The story is so well plotted that it moves along smoothly, all the elements coming together at the end for a perfect “aha” revelation or two!
I was just captivated the entire story. Whether it was Sage’s ghastly adolescence, the trauma he endured, or his future path that was happening , whether he wanted it or not. Magic was coming for him.
The Fantastic Fluke is just the first of The Fantastic Fluke series by Sam Burns. I can’t wait to read on and see where this journey takes Sage and his companions.
I’m highly recommending this. And the author, Sam Burns.
And btw? That cover is gorgeous! Love it.
The Fantastic Fluke Series:
✓ The Fantastic Fluke #1
◦ Fluke and the Failthless Father #2
◦ Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco #3
◦ Fluke and the Frontier Farce #4 – coming in 2022
https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Fantastic Fluke #1 – Goodreads
Synopsis:
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?
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 