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From the Secret Files of the Red Room #2
Eldritch Ops
Derek Hawthorne is now one of the most powerful men in the world and couldn't be more miserable. Having been promoted to the Committee—the secret council which supervises supernatural events—he longs for the day when he was an agent for the Red Room. Derek’s ex-partner-turned-vampire, Christopher Hang, comes to him with reports of a conspiracy to start a war between humans and the undead. Investigating, Derek soon finds himself up against the most famous vampire of them all—and his own family. Can Derek defeat Dracula, King of the Vampires, and stop the Red Room from turning all supernaturals into foot soldiers? Or should he just let the two sides tear each other apart?
442 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2017
2 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
C.T. Phipps
93 books672 followersC.T Phipps is a lifelong student of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. An avid tabletop gamer, he discovered this passion led him to write and turned him into a lifelong geek. He is a regular reviewer on Booknest.EU and for Grimdark Magazine.
He's written the Agent G series, Cthulhu Armageddon, the Red Room Trilogy, I Was A Teenaged Weredeer, Lucifer's Star, Psycho Killers in Love, Straight Outta Fangton, The Supervillainy Saga, and Wraith Knight.
Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blog...
Website: https://ctphipps.com/
C.T. Fanclub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/14917...
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ctphipps
He's written the Agent G series, Cthulhu Armageddon, the Red Room Trilogy, I Was A Teenaged Weredeer, Lucifer's Star, Psycho Killers in Love, Straight Outta Fangton, The Supervillainy Saga, and Wraith Knight.
Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blog...
Website: https://ctphipps.com/
C.T. Fanclub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/14917...
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ctphipps
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 4, 2019
A very tense supernatural thriller!
Eldritch Ops (Red Room book 2) by C.T. Phipps is a book I requested and the review is voluntary. This book is a very intense supernatural thriller! The "House" with the many color levels is a secretive group the take care of monsters. Be no idea and the House have been fighting for ever. Now our guy of the story is team House because his dad is head of the House. But certain things happen to make him questions the morals of his dad. Then he finds his friend is alive but turned into a vampire. He thought he was dead. Is his friend still his friend? There are so many double, crosses, I don't know what to call it! You have to stay on your toes with this one. Stay four steps ahead! Great action, psychological thriller along with supernatural complete with vampires, werewolves, demons, and magic! Very exciting! Unpredictable! Really loved this!
Eldritch Ops (Red Room book 2) by C.T. Phipps is a book I requested and the review is voluntary. This book is a very intense supernatural thriller! The "House" with the many color levels is a secretive group the take care of monsters. Be no idea and the House have been fighting for ever. Now our guy of the story is team House because his dad is head of the House. But certain things happen to make him questions the morals of his dad. Then he finds his friend is alive but turned into a vampire. He thought he was dead. Is his friend still his friend? There are so many double, crosses, I don't know what to call it! You have to stay on your toes with this one. Stay four steps ahead! Great action, psychological thriller along with supernatural complete with vampires, werewolves, demons, and magic! Very exciting! Unpredictable! Really loved this!
July 19, 2018
It's taken a long time for the sequel to ESOTERRORISM to come out but I'm glad it finally is. Derek Hawthorne was my first character in a novel and as the cynical, snarky, jaded secret agent who fights demons--he's still one of my favorite. Now he's getting to fight Dracula, vampirates, and his own employers. I hope people who enjoyed the original novel will enjoy the sequel.
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January 4, 2021Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.
Eldritch Ops is the sequel to Esoterrorism which follows Derek Hawthorne, a supernatural James Bond type. He is a member of the “House”, which is a group that works to keep the monsters under control and out of the public eye. Each branch of the group is a different “room” with a color. Derek is part of the “Red Room”, which are the spies.
Derek has lived his entire life in the House, his entire family is involved in some way at some point, including his father on the council. His mother isn’t in the picture, she left before he ever really knew her. He also has a twin and several half brothers and sisters.
So there is a lot that happens in this story and it builds on the first book (Esoterrorism:From the Secret Files of the Red Room, which I highly recommend you tackle first). We also meet more of Derek’s “friends”. I put friends in quotes because as a spy, does Derek really have true friends? It is hard to tell sometimes who you can and can’t trust.
If you like stories with a lot of action, even more snarkiness and that is fast paced, this series will be for you. You never know where the story is going with many twists and turns along the way. You will also come to love all the characters. You start to really root for them and want them all to make it out alive. It is also hard to tell who is the bad guy and who is the good guy. There’s also vampires, werewolves, wizards, psychics and more. What more do you need? You want to try this series, I promise.
Narration (5 stars)
Jeffrey Kafer narrates this series and he’s amazing. If you haven’t listened to one of his performances yet, what are you waiting for? He works in many different genres and I’ve listened to most of them. He’s wonderful, no matter the genre, romance, sci-fi, paranormal, action and more. I think Kafer is really great at bringing out the humor in a story. It is probably what I love most about his performances. You really should check him out.
**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
Eldritch Ops is the sequel to Esoterrorism which follows Derek Hawthorne, a supernatural James Bond type. He is a member of the “House”, which is a group that works to keep the monsters under control and out of the public eye. Each branch of the group is a different “room” with a color. Derek is part of the “Red Room”, which are the spies.
Derek has lived his entire life in the House, his entire family is involved in some way at some point, including his father on the council. His mother isn’t in the picture, she left before he ever really knew her. He also has a twin and several half brothers and sisters.
So there is a lot that happens in this story and it builds on the first book (Esoterrorism:From the Secret Files of the Red Room, which I highly recommend you tackle first). We also meet more of Derek’s “friends”. I put friends in quotes because as a spy, does Derek really have true friends? It is hard to tell sometimes who you can and can’t trust.
If you like stories with a lot of action, even more snarkiness and that is fast paced, this series will be for you. You never know where the story is going with many twists and turns along the way. You will also come to love all the characters. You start to really root for them and want them all to make it out alive. It is also hard to tell who is the bad guy and who is the good guy. There’s also vampires, werewolves, wizards, psychics and more. What more do you need? You want to try this series, I promise.
Narration (5 stars)
Jeffrey Kafer narrates this series and he’s amazing. If you haven’t listened to one of his performances yet, what are you waiting for? He works in many different genres and I’ve listened to most of them. He’s wonderful, no matter the genre, romance, sci-fi, paranormal, action and more. I think Kafer is really great at bringing out the humor in a story. It is probably what I love most about his performances. You really should check him out.
**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
November 4, 2018
I always like interesting takes on action heroes. Derek Hawthorne is the son of the world's most powerful magician...and a Council member of the Red Room. A clandestine organization hiding supernaturals from the public and partaking in shadow deals and secret wars with monsters. And they are just as bad as the monsters they wage war on.
Derek has never been much for magic, but is as tough as they come with supplementary magic to his not unformidable ability to channel his chi into various martial arts techniques. A lost partner and a war on vampires gained him the name of "The Cleaver" for his ability to cut through the ranks of the undead. But fighting Dracula, lord of vampires, is a different story.
With the "help" of an old friend, Derek takes possession of a weapon of untold power...and the demon that resides within it. Can he defeat Dracula and his minions once and for all with his newfound powers and what will he do about the increasingly villainous organization he belongs to?
Eldritch Ops is part spycraft thriller and part supernatural action ride. And I admit to a bit of a bias: I love these kinds of stories. CT Phipps writes damaged characters with enough power to be dangerous, but always battling enemies well over their pay-grade. Even with a massive power boost, Derek is far under-powered to deal with ancient vampires, hordes of zombies, and blood thirsty werewolves that are in the way of his goal: To stop the Red Room and to stop Dracula.
An enormously fun ride full of guns and magic.
Derek has never been much for magic, but is as tough as they come with supplementary magic to his not unformidable ability to channel his chi into various martial arts techniques. A lost partner and a war on vampires gained him the name of "The Cleaver" for his ability to cut through the ranks of the undead. But fighting Dracula, lord of vampires, is a different story.
With the "help" of an old friend, Derek takes possession of a weapon of untold power...and the demon that resides within it. Can he defeat Dracula and his minions once and for all with his newfound powers and what will he do about the increasingly villainous organization he belongs to?
Eldritch Ops is part spycraft thriller and part supernatural action ride. And I admit to a bit of a bias: I love these kinds of stories. CT Phipps writes damaged characters with enough power to be dangerous, but always battling enemies well over their pay-grade. Even with a massive power boost, Derek is far under-powered to deal with ancient vampires, hordes of zombies, and blood thirsty werewolves that are in the way of his goal: To stop the Red Room and to stop Dracula.
An enormously fun ride full of guns and magic.
December 6, 2021
Note: This is book 2 in the series and works best if you read book 1 first.
Wow! Derek is one messed up dude. He’s also in a very dangerous situation and oh so many people want his head on a spike (just like Dracula likes them). Luckily Derek has lots of help, or are they merely maneuvering in for the best way to stab him in the back? Derek is a paranoid fellow, and with good reason.
I like the talking sword because it has a lot of snark. I also liked his twin sister, Penny. She’s great with gadgets and she can safely (mostly) push back on Derek when he’s being unreasonable. Then there’s the mysterious ‘dead’ wife that isn’t quite so dead, mostly because someone helped fake her death.
On the opposing side we Dracula and all his loyal minions. Yep. The Dracula. He has a really nice jet that Derek falls from. Dracula is strong in mesmerism but Derek is way too stubborn to be easily swayed. This actually makes Dracula respect him a bit and changes the game. Derek can’t simply be swatted down or be put under the vampire’s mental control. The other big baddie is Derek’s dad, Nathaniel Hawthorne. He’s done his share of disgusting things and Derek doesn’t want anything to do with him. Alas, Nathaniel has critical info for Derek. Yet it’s info that doesn’t make Derek any happier even if does get him closer to tackling his mission.
All that sounds pretty serious, but don’t be fooled! There’s plenty of humor sprinkled throughout this story, a lot of it being snark and pop culture references. I really love the combination of epic, Earth-changing serious situations with this kind of humor.
Also, if you’re a Phipps fan, this book is set in the same world as two of his over series (the Weredeer series and the Detroit vampires series). I believe this book is set slightly before the start of those two series but all 3 series can be read independently. I love how they dovetail and add a little background to each other.
The story has a lot of action in it and the pace really ramps up to a crescendo for the final scenes. There’s vampire pirates and determined werewolves! It’s crazy intense! Once again, I was thoroughly entertained by this author. 5/5 stars.
The Narration: Jeffrey Kafer is just so much fun to listen to. I think he really enjoyed these books as well because it shows in his work. He has a nice variety of voices so I can keep all the characters straight. I like his female voices, especially his know-it-all snarky voice for Penny. The pacing is perfect and there are no tech issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book. My opinions are 100% of my own.
Wow! Derek is one messed up dude. He’s also in a very dangerous situation and oh so many people want his head on a spike (just like Dracula likes them). Luckily Derek has lots of help, or are they merely maneuvering in for the best way to stab him in the back? Derek is a paranoid fellow, and with good reason.
I like the talking sword because it has a lot of snark. I also liked his twin sister, Penny. She’s great with gadgets and she can safely (mostly) push back on Derek when he’s being unreasonable. Then there’s the mysterious ‘dead’ wife that isn’t quite so dead, mostly because someone helped fake her death.
On the opposing side we Dracula and all his loyal minions. Yep. The Dracula. He has a really nice jet that Derek falls from. Dracula is strong in mesmerism but Derek is way too stubborn to be easily swayed. This actually makes Dracula respect him a bit and changes the game. Derek can’t simply be swatted down or be put under the vampire’s mental control. The other big baddie is Derek’s dad, Nathaniel Hawthorne. He’s done his share of disgusting things and Derek doesn’t want anything to do with him. Alas, Nathaniel has critical info for Derek. Yet it’s info that doesn’t make Derek any happier even if does get him closer to tackling his mission.
All that sounds pretty serious, but don’t be fooled! There’s plenty of humor sprinkled throughout this story, a lot of it being snark and pop culture references. I really love the combination of epic, Earth-changing serious situations with this kind of humor.
Also, if you’re a Phipps fan, this book is set in the same world as two of his over series (the Weredeer series and the Detroit vampires series). I believe this book is set slightly before the start of those two series but all 3 series can be read independently. I love how they dovetail and add a little background to each other.
The story has a lot of action in it and the pace really ramps up to a crescendo for the final scenes. There’s vampire pirates and determined werewolves! It’s crazy intense! Once again, I was thoroughly entertained by this author. 5/5 stars.
The Narration: Jeffrey Kafer is just so much fun to listen to. I think he really enjoyed these books as well because it shows in his work. He has a nice variety of voices so I can keep all the characters straight. I like his female voices, especially his know-it-all snarky voice for Penny. The pacing is perfect and there are no tech issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book. My opinions are 100% of my own.
August 7, 2023
I finished this book to go searching to make sure the next one is out.
It is! I'll be picking it up as I need to follow through with where this book ended. It's not really a cliffhanger ending, but an ending to this story and a reason for the beginning of another mission.
I'm enjoy the characters in these books. Derek and his twin sister Penny are a great team. And those he finds himself trusting are great people. The mix in origins is great...a succubus, a werewolf, and magicians. Though, there is one person Derek talks to to get to where they need to go with back up coming... I don't trust that person very much. Which kind of brings us to the end and what I'm looking forward to in the next book. ;)
Who's behind the attacks? The solo hits on groups. The attacks on Derek.... We find this out and learn more deep, dark secrets of The House. The House is the organization that houses the Red Room and many other departments. I know Derek has been raised to be speculative of things, but as an agent you're to trust The House when you receive orders. We see how over time Derek has started to see things aren't as they were blindly believed for so long. Derek has his own speculative thoughts on the House and those on the Committee.
Derek isn't one to pull his punches. He dives head first into missions, more so when he has personal investment in them. Derek is even starting to be more open to the supernatural people in the world.
I enjoy the twisted path we follow to learn the truth and events that happen to get there. Conspiracy and action are great combinations in a story.
It is! I'll be picking it up as I need to follow through with where this book ended. It's not really a cliffhanger ending, but an ending to this story and a reason for the beginning of another mission.
I'm enjoy the characters in these books. Derek and his twin sister Penny are a great team. And those he finds himself trusting are great people. The mix in origins is great...a succubus, a werewolf, and magicians. Though, there is one person Derek talks to to get to where they need to go with back up coming... I don't trust that person very much. Which kind of brings us to the end and what I'm looking forward to in the next book. ;)
Who's behind the attacks? The solo hits on groups. The attacks on Derek.... We find this out and learn more deep, dark secrets of The House. The House is the organization that houses the Red Room and many other departments. I know Derek has been raised to be speculative of things, but as an agent you're to trust The House when you receive orders. We see how over time Derek has started to see things aren't as they were blindly believed for so long. Derek has his own speculative thoughts on the House and those on the Committee.
Derek isn't one to pull his punches. He dives head first into missions, more so when he has personal investment in them. Derek is even starting to be more open to the supernatural people in the world.
I enjoy the twisted path we follow to learn the truth and events that happen to get there. Conspiracy and action are great combinations in a story.
August 15, 2018
Some good ole popcorn summer fun!
This book is much like the first one. It's fun, it's crazy and it just goes for it.
You got Dracula, magical swords, possessions, wizards and witches, secret plots, werewolves and a super secret spy who has more than one ace up his sleeve.
It's fast and it moves like a rocket. There are times I wish there was more to the lore, but this is about the action. Phipps enjoys his action. And his pop culture references which can be a bit much at times, but he doesn't spend paragraphs reminding the reader what he is referencing unlike some authors.
It's urban kitchen sink fantasy. You'll have fun.
This book is much like the first one. It's fun, it's crazy and it just goes for it.
You got Dracula, magical swords, possessions, wizards and witches, secret plots, werewolves and a super secret spy who has more than one ace up his sleeve.
It's fast and it moves like a rocket. There are times I wish there was more to the lore, but this is about the action. Phipps enjoys his action. And his pop culture references which can be a bit much at times, but he doesn't spend paragraphs reminding the reader what he is referencing unlike some authors.
It's urban kitchen sink fantasy. You'll have fun.
November 16, 2020
Eldritch Ops is book 2 of the Red Room series by C.T. Phipps. I'm already loving this series and book 2 is much better than the first! I'm certainly looking forward to the rest of the series! Great world and character building! The main character, Derek Hawthorne, is a supernatural spy! Lots of action, vampires, werewolves, wizards, and an exciting listen! Jeffrey Later does am excellent job with the narration!
August 8, 2023
I like the tone this series had, is dark and serious with a touch of fun in there. Hope the conclusion of the series is epic.
February 21, 2020
Somehow even better than the first!
Firstly, if you haven't read book one first, I'd highly recommend it as you may be lost here. Or listen to it on Audible, like I did. Sadly, this one isn't on there yet and I wanted to know what happens.
I can't really go into the plot because I'm almost certain to spoil something. Basically, the Red Room is under looming threat of annihilation from the Vampire Nation. Like the last book, nothing is as it seems.
The action was really great, and the characters were perfectly written and believable.
This is also a prequel set in the same world as Straight Outta Fangton and the Teenage Weredeer books, or Brightblade, so if you've read any of those you will absolutely love this one.
Even for someone like me who doesn't usually enjoy magic spy thrillers, I am so glad I read this. I went through it as fast as I could just to see what would happen next.
You should definitely give this a try!
Firstly, if you haven't read book one first, I'd highly recommend it as you may be lost here. Or listen to it on Audible, like I did. Sadly, this one isn't on there yet and I wanted to know what happens.
I can't really go into the plot because I'm almost certain to spoil something. Basically, the Red Room is under looming threat of annihilation from the Vampire Nation. Like the last book, nothing is as it seems.
The action was really great, and the characters were perfectly written and believable.
This is also a prequel set in the same world as Straight Outta Fangton and the Teenage Weredeer books, or Brightblade, so if you've read any of those you will absolutely love this one.
Even for someone like me who doesn't usually enjoy magic spy thrillers, I am so glad I read this. I went through it as fast as I could just to see what would happen next.
You should definitely give this a try!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews