Gordon Greenbough is one of the Illuminated. That means that he is bonded to a familiar spirit and gifted with extraordinary powers. Being Illuminated can take a lot of forms. Gordon is a biomage linked to the spirit of life itself, Ela-Tu. This gives him power and influence over living things including the ability to heal, but it also makes it hard for him to keep love in his life as his connection to life makes him promiscuous. When trouble comes in the shape of Shadow, the bogey-man of the Illuminated world, Gordon has to rise to a whole new level if he’s going to survive.

In Sip of Fear, Brian Rush created a fascinating contemporary fantasy world and peopled it with engaging and sympathetic characters. From the very beginning I was intrigued by the world and by Gordon. The story is well paced and, while somewhat predictable in some aspects, quite well written. Rush’s prose flows well and pulled me through the more philosophical moments that might have had me skimming in another book.

I especially appreciated reading a male character who was comfortable with himself and with love and was cheering for his success throughout. The other characters were well developed and real, especially Rose, Gordon’s love interest. Rush gave his characters real-life struggles alongside their magical ones, which is a mixture I’ll fall for every time.

I recommend this one for readers who love magic and mystery, especially when they butt up against each other in a story with great characters.

About The Reviewer:

Samantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/