fluke and the faultline fiasco coverRating: 4.25 stars
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Length: Novel

 

When an earthquake shakes Sage’s home, at first he is unfazed; they live in California, after all, where earthquakes are a way of life. But when Sage feels a deep fear from the consciousness of the ley lines beneath the city, he knows something is desperately wrong. Sage and Gideon set out to track down the source of the disruption and find evidence that someone is seeking to damage the ley lines. The problem is that the men aren’t sure why.

With the help of Sage’s grandmother, Iris; his cousin, Freddy; and local Dominus, Anson, the group begins to dig further into the history of the town and some of the magic users, including Sage’s distant Uncle Jonathan. Jonathan’s journals reveal not just a deep hatred of those with magic (particularly his powerful sister), but also a desire to find a way to stop arcane magic users. As they dig deeper, the group slowly begins to put together the pieces of what the modern day attackers may be seeking. But deciphering the end goal and figuring out who is behind the current attacks are two different things. And even once they figure out who is behind it all, finding a way to stop them without being killed themselves is not going to be easy. But Sage is determined to do all he can to stop the attacks before someone breaks the magic in Junction, and kills everyone who lives there in the process.

Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco is the third installment in Sam Burns’ Fantastic Fluke series and I am really loving these books. Burns has done since a nice job taking the original story and really expanding the world building and the conflict to give us an exciting and engaging series arc. While each story has an individual adventure for Sage, Gideon, and the gang, the overarching plot connects and the books are best read in order, starting with The Fantastic Fluke.

This story gives us a mystery as we know right away that someone is messing around with the ley lines, but we aren’t clear what they are trying to accomplish or who is behind it all. It gives a great opportunity for all the characters to join forces to dig more into the history surrounding the town, particularly Jonathan’s journals. There they begin to uncover more about Jonathan’s hatred of magic users and his desire to find a way to stop arcane magic. Sage and Gideon also draw on some of the information that they learned from the thumb drive Sage got from his stepfather right before he died. I really enjoyed watching this group all work together on the case. I absolutely adore Iris and am growing really fond of Freddy as well. We get a nice sense of him here and Burns has done well growing his character from a flirt and sort of a foil for Sage into someone with a lot of layers and making him a real part of the team. I don’t think things are quite as high-octane here as in the first two books, though there is quite an intense ending. This is a middle book in the series so we are learning new things, but the story is still all coming together. But I found it exciting and engaging and I feel we have more pieces of the puzzle come together here.

I continue to really love Gideon, and here we get a chance to see a little more of his backstory, as we meet one of his modern day relatives. The idea that Gideon lived back in the age when Sage’s relatives were just coming into town and that his history crosses both the past and the present works really well here, and it appears that Gideon’s past will continue to be explored in the next book as well. I love the dynamic between Sage and Gideon and the bond here is clearly so strong. As with the last book, I do wish for a little more on the personal side for the two of them. There is a lot of them working in a group, but less exploring their personal relationship. But I do really enjoy them as a couple.

If you have been enjoying the Fluke series so far, I think this book is going to be another hit. I am really caught up in this series and excited to see how things all come together with the overall storyline. I particularly love the way Burns has built not only our main couple, but some great side characters as well. I am really loving these books and can’t wait to see what future adventures are in store.

 

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