Esoterrorism (From the Secret Files of the Red Room, #1)

by C T Phipps

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Esoterrorism is the first book in a new series by C.T. Phipps, who is an author that I’ve been listening to a lot lately. While his stories have a lot of similarities, like the fact that you know there will be humor and pop culture references in every book, there are a lot of differences too. I wasn’t 100% sure what I was getting into when I started this audiobook. I was just offered a review copy and knew that I was willing to give it a try without even reading the book blurb (sorry authors, I rarely read book blurbs #SorryNotSorry). The fact that Phipps teamed up with Jeffery Kafer only helped encourage me to listen.

Derek Hawthorne is an agent of The Red Room, a part of the larger House organization. Each department is a different colored room. They are working to keep the supernatural world from the everyday humans. It is also kinda a family thing. Everyone in your family is involved, because it is super secret, spy-like organization.

The story opens with Derek and his sister trying to prevent Karl Bjornson, or the Wazir, an evil Santa Claus looking guy, from releasing a bio agent into a food court. Said bio agent, would cause people to become zombies and spread quickly. It seems there is a mole in the Red Room and Derek has to find out who it is and doesn’t know who he can trust.

I don’t want to go into too much more, because I don’t want to spoil anything (and as a person who avoids book blurbs, everything is a spoiler to me). Just know that I had a great time with this Sterling Archer type character. If you’re a fan of the Archer cartoon on FX, then I highly recommend you give this series a try.

Narration
Jeffrey Kafer has quickly become one of my favorite narrators. I actually found C.T. Phipps because I listened Kafer with a series similar to Phipps (The Shadow Master series by M.K. Gibson) and was told to try The Supervilliany series by Phipps. The rest is history. I continue to listen to both authors all thanks to Kafer. I just think he’s great at all the voices and the snark of the characters. His inflection is always perfect for the scene in front of him, no matter what it. If you haven’t listened to Kafer, you should really give him a try.

**I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.