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From the Secret Files of the Red Room #3
The Fall of the House
FROM THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE RULES OF Derek Hawthorne has slain Dracula and stopped the malevolent plan of his own employers, the sinister House. However, he has discovered that his ex-partner and lover Ashley Morgan has been kidnapped while a new conspiracy moves to expose the supernatural to the world. The House has overplayed its hand and all of its enemies are coming to bring it down. Derek will have to travel dimensions, fight monsters, and call in every favor he's accumulated just to survive.The Fall of the House is the exciting conclusion of the Red Room trilogy, tying the series to the greater United States of Monsters universe (Bright Falls Mysteries, Straight Outta Fangton, and Brightblade).
- GenresUrban Fantasy
290 pages, Paperback
First published April 18, 2020
About the author
C.T. Phipps
96 books682 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 reviewer for Before We Go, Fanfi Addict, and Grimdark Magazine.
He's written the Cthulhu Armageddon, Dark Undermaster Saga, Futurepunk, Lucifer's Star, Space Academy, The Supervillainy Saga, United States of Monsters, and Wraith Knight series.
Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blog...
Website: https://ctphipps.com/
C.T. Fanclub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/14917...
He's written the Cthulhu Armageddon, Dark Undermaster Saga, Futurepunk, Lucifer's Star, Space Academy, The Supervillainy Saga, United States of Monsters, and Wraith Knight series.
Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blog...
Website: https://ctphipps.com/
C.T. Fanclub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/14917...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 18, 2023
The Fall of the House
By C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus
Narration by Jeffrey Kafer
I listened to the audio version this time. My niece was with me and we giggled all the way through it. Read books 1 and 2 to get the full effect. This way you know the characters and what the gang has been through already.
There is lots of action, creatures, love the characters (especially Mary!), loads of humor, and of course the TV references! 😁 The narration made this so much funnier than me reading it. This book has to be the funniest book so far! Definitely going in my favorite folder! Great job fellas!
The Fall of the House by C.T. Phipps is a book I requested and the review is voluntary. This book continues where book two ends but seems at a bit of a later time. ( If you haven't read books 1 and 2 of the series you will be confused in here! This is book 3.)
Our main guy finds out a lot of things in this book, I won't spoil it but there is a lot of back stabbing traitors in the mix!
Great characters as usual and terrific plot, humor sprinkled throughout the story, witty, action as needed when dealing with supernatural creatures, and wonderful world building. Phipps really let his imagination run in this book and the reader wins!
By C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus
Narration by Jeffrey Kafer
I listened to the audio version this time. My niece was with me and we giggled all the way through it. Read books 1 and 2 to get the full effect. This way you know the characters and what the gang has been through already.
There is lots of action, creatures, love the characters (especially Mary!), loads of humor, and of course the TV references! 😁 The narration made this so much funnier than me reading it. This book has to be the funniest book so far! Definitely going in my favorite folder! Great job fellas!
The Fall of the House by C.T. Phipps is a book I requested and the review is voluntary. This book continues where book two ends but seems at a bit of a later time. ( If you haven't read books 1 and 2 of the series you will be confused in here! This is book 3.)
Our main guy finds out a lot of things in this book, I won't spoil it but there is a lot of back stabbing traitors in the mix!
Great characters as usual and terrific plot, humor sprinkled throughout the story, witty, action as needed when dealing with supernatural creatures, and wonderful world building. Phipps really let his imagination run in this book and the reader wins!
April 21, 2020
The exciting conclusion to my first trilogy and the first book I ever wrote. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE follows Derek Hawthorne, super-spy to the supernatural, as he finds out that his employees in the House are even worse than the forces they oppose. Oh and his ex-girlfriend/fiance Ashley Morgan has been kidnapped as part of a larger plan to reveal the supernatural to the world. Since this is a prequel to my United States of Monster books (Straight Outta Fangton, Brightblade, I was a Teenage Weredeer) we know how that's going to happen.
I really had a lot of fun bridging my Red Room books to my other urban fantasy series as well as wrapping up the stories of so many old friends. Esoterrorism and Eldritch Ops were both published by Ragnarok Publication so they were actually out of print for a good while. I think people will really enjoy this story as well as the big explosive ending. It's got mercenary elves, gunsling mages, drone golems, and a godzilla-sized Celtic God.
I really had a lot of fun bridging my Red Room books to my other urban fantasy series as well as wrapping up the stories of so many old friends. Esoterrorism and Eldritch Ops were both published by Ragnarok Publication so they were actually out of print for a good while. I think people will really enjoy this story as well as the big explosive ending. It's got mercenary elves, gunsling mages, drone golems, and a godzilla-sized Celtic God.
April 4, 2023
What. A. Story.
The Fall of the House is the first book in the From The Secrets of the Red Room series that features both Phipps & Suttkus at the helm. I've read quite a few books from Phipps alone and probably just as many from the two of them together, and every time they get together, they make magic.
I think one of the reasons I like Phipps & Suttkus so much has a few significant points. First, I love that they always include pop references and inside jokes and don't take themselves too seriously (even in major battles, someone usually says something that makes me laugh). Second, I think that the multiverse-style writing, where everything is interconnected in some way to other stories that they are writing, is fantastic. It has that "ohhhh, so that's how this bad guy or this anti-her was created" feel to it constantly. Third, the action is hard to beat. The Fall of the House has some of the MOST action happening in any book they've written to date. The bad guys, especially the big bad dude at the end, were relentless. And they consistently nail the action, but in this one, they absolutely crushed it.
Writing in a multiverse / interconnected universe like The Red Room allows some things to be tied up in a nice bow. But other things to be shown without the book feeling like it was a cliffhanger. Things in this series can be tied up in a pretty bow but still leave other things untouched. It's a unique and exciting way of writing, and I loved the ending of The Fall of the House because of it.
I like that they "went back to the drawing board" a bit with this one and seemed to allow it to line up with another series in the universe/multiverse they've created, the United States of Monsters. Merging these two timelines makes a lot of sense, and the work they did to make it come out felt seamless in this book. It allows Phipps and Suttkus to utilize any of these characters in other books in the future without tying them directly to the Red Room series.
Overall, a series that I enjoyed that seemed like it may have lost its way did the polar opposite. They breathed life into it and made it one of my favorite Phipps and Suttkus books to date. As always, Kafer delivers and perfect performance - absolutely nailing the tones and attitudes of the various characters. He's the perfect narrator for the character-driven storytelling that these authors do so well.
The Fall of the House is the first book in the From The Secrets of the Red Room series that features both Phipps & Suttkus at the helm. I've read quite a few books from Phipps alone and probably just as many from the two of them together, and every time they get together, they make magic.
I think one of the reasons I like Phipps & Suttkus so much has a few significant points. First, I love that they always include pop references and inside jokes and don't take themselves too seriously (even in major battles, someone usually says something that makes me laugh). Second, I think that the multiverse-style writing, where everything is interconnected in some way to other stories that they are writing, is fantastic. It has that "ohhhh, so that's how this bad guy or this anti-her was created" feel to it constantly. Third, the action is hard to beat. The Fall of the House has some of the MOST action happening in any book they've written to date. The bad guys, especially the big bad dude at the end, were relentless. And they consistently nail the action, but in this one, they absolutely crushed it.
Writing in a multiverse / interconnected universe like The Red Room allows some things to be tied up in a nice bow. But other things to be shown without the book feeling like it was a cliffhanger. Things in this series can be tied up in a pretty bow but still leave other things untouched. It's a unique and exciting way of writing, and I loved the ending of The Fall of the House because of it.
I like that they "went back to the drawing board" a bit with this one and seemed to allow it to line up with another series in the universe/multiverse they've created, the United States of Monsters. Merging these two timelines makes a lot of sense, and the work they did to make it come out felt seamless in this book. It allows Phipps and Suttkus to utilize any of these characters in other books in the future without tying them directly to the Red Room series.
Overall, a series that I enjoyed that seemed like it may have lost its way did the polar opposite. They breathed life into it and made it one of my favorite Phipps and Suttkus books to date. As always, Kafer delivers and perfect performance - absolutely nailing the tones and attitudes of the various characters. He's the perfect narrator for the character-driven storytelling that these authors do so well.
May 20, 2024
Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.
The Fall of the House is the third and final book in the Secrets of the Red Room series. Derek Hawthorne is a spy and works for The House as part of the Red Room. Each department has a different colored “Room”. I can’t remember them all, but there is a black and white room too. And I think there might be a blue one. I don’t remember what all they did. I think Black was training and White might have been medical. Don’t quote me on that. It is also a family thing, so children of people who work for The House end up working for The House too.
The House is a secret organization that is trying to “protect” humans from the monsters. However, it gets lost somewhere since humans can be monsters too. It isn’t just the vampires, were-animals and other supernatural things that do bad things. And supernatural things can be a force for good too. The House doesn’t care, they want all monsters gone. And they don’t want humans to know about them.
I don’t want to say too much, because spoilers. This is a fun action packed series. It is a prequel to some of the other series he’s written (Straight Outta Fangton and Bright Falls Mysteries, with vampires and were-deer and other shifters), so we know that the monsters are outed to the humans.
As with any Phipps and Suttkus book, the humor runs high in this story. There are always a lot of fun pop culture comments and one liners that keep even the darker scenes light and fun. There is always a fun cast of characters. The diversity of the personalities is always so much fun. I never get bored with any of the characters. They are so well developed, I just fall in love with them.
Narration:
Jeffery Kafer once again knocks it out of the park. He is an amazing narrator. He’s so good with the voices, both male and female. He has no issues with a large cast, every character has their own voice that matches their personality. He’s also wonderful in his tone, every scene pulls you in. If you’ve never listened to him, you’re really missing out.
**I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
The Fall of the House is the third and final book in the Secrets of the Red Room series. Derek Hawthorne is a spy and works for The House as part of the Red Room. Each department has a different colored “Room”. I can’t remember them all, but there is a black and white room too. And I think there might be a blue one. I don’t remember what all they did. I think Black was training and White might have been medical. Don’t quote me on that. It is also a family thing, so children of people who work for The House end up working for The House too.
The House is a secret organization that is trying to “protect” humans from the monsters. However, it gets lost somewhere since humans can be monsters too. It isn’t just the vampires, were-animals and other supernatural things that do bad things. And supernatural things can be a force for good too. The House doesn’t care, they want all monsters gone. And they don’t want humans to know about them.
I don’t want to say too much, because spoilers. This is a fun action packed series. It is a prequel to some of the other series he’s written (Straight Outta Fangton and Bright Falls Mysteries, with vampires and were-deer and other shifters), so we know that the monsters are outed to the humans.
As with any Phipps and Suttkus book, the humor runs high in this story. There are always a lot of fun pop culture comments and one liners that keep even the darker scenes light and fun. There is always a fun cast of characters. The diversity of the personalities is always so much fun. I never get bored with any of the characters. They are so well developed, I just fall in love with them.
Narration:
Jeffery Kafer once again knocks it out of the park. He is an amazing narrator. He’s so good with the voices, both male and female. He has no issues with a large cast, every character has their own voice that matches their personality. He’s also wonderful in his tone, every scene pulls you in. If you’ve never listened to him, you’re really missing out.
**I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
May 7, 2020
The Fall of the House had something that I really like at the end of a trilogy: a definitive ending with quality consequences.
Derek Hawthorne is once again out to save his friends and the world; this time from his family. Ancient sleeping gods awakening, demonically possessed siblings, and psychotic CEOs all in line to end humanity and rule what is left over.
Enter Derek with his demon of bloodshed, Bloody Mary, and a handful of friends to take down everything. The Great Lie that was forced on humanity is about to dissolve, leaving the world open to the knowledge that monsters really do exist...and always have.
Action packed and truly touching at times, this was a fantastic romp through the dark corners of the world and beyond. I really can't recommend this book or the series enough. Seriously, read this series; then pick up all of the shared Universe books and see just how far reaching this Universe extends!
Derek Hawthorne is once again out to save his friends and the world; this time from his family. Ancient sleeping gods awakening, demonically possessed siblings, and psychotic CEOs all in line to end humanity and rule what is left over.
Enter Derek with his demon of bloodshed, Bloody Mary, and a handful of friends to take down everything. The Great Lie that was forced on humanity is about to dissolve, leaving the world open to the knowledge that monsters really do exist...and always have.
Action packed and truly touching at times, this was a fantastic romp through the dark corners of the world and beyond. I really can't recommend this book or the series enough. Seriously, read this series; then pick up all of the shared Universe books and see just how far reaching this Universe extends!
April 21, 2020
This was such a great way to end the trilogy! I'll start off by saying that if you haven't read the first two books, you will be lost on this one, so you should check those out first (book one is one of my favourite audible books).
Anyway, this takes place a little while after book two. Derek is still going out into the field, despite his status as a council member. There is still the after effects of his sister's experiments in book two, along with certain members of the council being less than fond of him.
With a book like this I'm never sure how much to say about the plot in a review, because I don't want to give away the twists and surprises(and boy, there are some that literally had me standing up and yelling "What?!"). If you've read the other two, you have an idea about the world itself, and maybe what you can expect as a reader.
The characters were once again a standout for me, because they're not the usual one dimensional, 'good' or 'bad'. Instead they were layered and complex and they felt genuinely real to me.
Also, the way this slots into The United Federation of Monsters was particularly well done. It adds depth to other books in the franchise, especially ones like Bright Blade.
All in all, this is by far the best book of the trilogy, which is no mean feat. I loved every page of this one and part of me wants to re-read it already.
I can't recommend this book enough. It was AMAZING!
Anyway, this takes place a little while after book two. Derek is still going out into the field, despite his status as a council member. There is still the after effects of his sister's experiments in book two, along with certain members of the council being less than fond of him.
With a book like this I'm never sure how much to say about the plot in a review, because I don't want to give away the twists and surprises(and boy, there are some that literally had me standing up and yelling "What?!"). If you've read the other two, you have an idea about the world itself, and maybe what you can expect as a reader.
The characters were once again a standout for me, because they're not the usual one dimensional, 'good' or 'bad'. Instead they were layered and complex and they felt genuinely real to me.
Also, the way this slots into The United Federation of Monsters was particularly well done. It adds depth to other books in the franchise, especially ones like Bright Blade.
All in all, this is by far the best book of the trilogy, which is no mean feat. I loved every page of this one and part of me wants to re-read it already.
I can't recommend this book enough. It was AMAZING!
April 21, 2020
This book was a long time coming, being the third book in a series started with a publisher that went under, and a bit of a struggle to get the rights sorted for the first two books. The authors then decided to do a soft retcon to align the timeline of this trilogy to their United States of Monsters series, and have seamlessly added a richer backstory to the several characters series.
PLOT SUMMARY
The story picks up with Derek Hawthorne, Council member of the Red House and still sometime field agent, reeling from the events of Eldritch Ops, including his role in the death of his sister Rebecca, who was working on a plan to mind control all the supernatural creatures of the world. Derek is now dedicated to exposing the corruption of the Red House, and bringing it down from the inside. Unfortunately, he's not the only one with these plans.
The story starts with Derek reliving a memory of his first partner, Ashley Morgan, a powerful psychic, who he helped escape the House's clutches with the help of another agent who was his partner, Christopher, who would become a vampire afterwards. Awaking in the hospital after barely surviving his sister's end, Derek's current partner and lover Shannon, his Uncle Talbot and Christopher come in and let him know moves are afoot to destroy the House, and that Ashley has disappeared. This is immediately followed by an attack by an unknown force of mercenaries, who turn out to be elves, which shouldn't be possible, since elves no longer live on earth's plane.
Dealing with the elves with extreme prejudice, they let the House cleanup crew deal with the fallout while they try to determine who is plotting against them. What they discover is that their past is coming back to haunt them, as Derek's ex brother-in-law, Roland, now head of the Pantheon Corp., the House's weapons supplier, is gunning to take Derek's seat on the council. The problem is, that's not all that he's up to, and he has unexpected allies in a plan to bring about a world ending horror from the past back to the world, all while bringing down the House and exposing the world to the truth that the supernatural exists. Its up to Derek and company to try and stop Roland and his allies, and save the people in Derek's life that it would crush him to lose. Oh, and maybe save the world while they are at it. Derek may have to make the ultimate sacrifice if the world is to survive.
CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING
Anyone familiar with the authors' work knows they are extremely character driven. They spend a lot of time fleshing out the various characters. this includes all the familial and romantic relationships, some of which are just oddly funny, sort of like real life. Derek is such a tragic character, raised to be something he has fought against being for years not to be. His beliefs are the exact opposite of what he has been trained to believe, and his relationships feed off that. The various other characters also get their moments throughout of character development, and they never feel like cardboard cutouts, but fully realized characters. The villains are unexpected and have interesting motivations, feeding into the theme of the book, which is change on an unprecedented scale for the whole world.
The world building is solid, helping to create a solid foundation for various other parts of the series. The supernatural world has been slowly approaching exposure to the mundane world, and this story ties the pre-reveal world to the post-reveal world, creating a bridge between the story arcs.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The idea of merging this series in with The United States of Monsters world was an inspired choice, taking the fairly undeveloped backstory of the post-reveal world and adding some rich layers of occult spy action leading right up to the reveal. It is definitely some of the authors' best writing, and is a fitting end to this arc, while adding to the various future arcs. I'm hoping to see a few more of these characters in future installments of the various series.
PLOT SUMMARY
The story picks up with Derek Hawthorne, Council member of the Red House and still sometime field agent, reeling from the events of Eldritch Ops, including his role in the death of his sister Rebecca, who was working on a plan to mind control all the supernatural creatures of the world. Derek is now dedicated to exposing the corruption of the Red House, and bringing it down from the inside. Unfortunately, he's not the only one with these plans.
The story starts with Derek reliving a memory of his first partner, Ashley Morgan, a powerful psychic, who he helped escape the House's clutches with the help of another agent who was his partner, Christopher, who would become a vampire afterwards. Awaking in the hospital after barely surviving his sister's end, Derek's current partner and lover Shannon, his Uncle Talbot and Christopher come in and let him know moves are afoot to destroy the House, and that Ashley has disappeared. This is immediately followed by an attack by an unknown force of mercenaries, who turn out to be elves, which shouldn't be possible, since elves no longer live on earth's plane.
Dealing with the elves with extreme prejudice, they let the House cleanup crew deal with the fallout while they try to determine who is plotting against them. What they discover is that their past is coming back to haunt them, as Derek's ex brother-in-law, Roland, now head of the Pantheon Corp., the House's weapons supplier, is gunning to take Derek's seat on the council. The problem is, that's not all that he's up to, and he has unexpected allies in a plan to bring about a world ending horror from the past back to the world, all while bringing down the House and exposing the world to the truth that the supernatural exists. Its up to Derek and company to try and stop Roland and his allies, and save the people in Derek's life that it would crush him to lose. Oh, and maybe save the world while they are at it. Derek may have to make the ultimate sacrifice if the world is to survive.
CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING
Anyone familiar with the authors' work knows they are extremely character driven. They spend a lot of time fleshing out the various characters. this includes all the familial and romantic relationships, some of which are just oddly funny, sort of like real life. Derek is such a tragic character, raised to be something he has fought against being for years not to be. His beliefs are the exact opposite of what he has been trained to believe, and his relationships feed off that. The various other characters also get their moments throughout of character development, and they never feel like cardboard cutouts, but fully realized characters. The villains are unexpected and have interesting motivations, feeding into the theme of the book, which is change on an unprecedented scale for the whole world.
The world building is solid, helping to create a solid foundation for various other parts of the series. The supernatural world has been slowly approaching exposure to the mundane world, and this story ties the pre-reveal world to the post-reveal world, creating a bridge between the story arcs.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The idea of merging this series in with The United States of Monsters world was an inspired choice, taking the fairly undeveloped backstory of the post-reveal world and adding some rich layers of occult spy action leading right up to the reveal. It is definitely some of the authors' best writing, and is a fitting end to this arc, while adding to the various future arcs. I'm hoping to see a few more of these characters in future installments of the various series.
March 21, 2023
Well that wraps up The Red Room Saga in kind of a neat bow. In this we bring together the end of Nathan Hawthorn’s story and how “the reveal” happens.
The story twists through a variety of scenes bringing us through to an exceptionally large baddie at the end. The journey moves along at a nice pace that brings the series to a satisfying conclusion.
As I’ve waited for the Audible version of this I should have perhaps had a recap on the previous two stories. A lot of threads from previous books and characters from the wider USoM. This is can be a bit overwhelming and possibly unnecessary to drive this specific story. However, this is a small criticism to what is a great series.
The story twists through a variety of scenes bringing us through to an exceptionally large baddie at the end. The journey moves along at a nice pace that brings the series to a satisfying conclusion.
As I’ve waited for the Audible version of this I should have perhaps had a recap on the previous two stories. A lot of threads from previous books and characters from the wider USoM. This is can be a bit overwhelming and possibly unnecessary to drive this specific story. However, this is a small criticism to what is a great series.
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