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phamine's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
spazenport's review
5.0
I was lucky enough to listen to the audio book, Esoterrorism by C.T. Phipps.
I’ve been a fan of C.T.’s other books (The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon) and Esoterrorism doesn’t disappoint.
You follow an agent of the “Red Room,” Derek. The Red Room is a like the CIA of the supernatural. Most importantly, they focus on keeping the majority of the world’s populace in the dark about the things that go bump in the night.
This leads to some moral questions regarding whether or not the world is prepared to know and at what point does the prime directive of keeping the secret interfere with keeping the world safe?
Of course, it wouldn’t be a C.T. Phipps book without a strong character with emotional conundrums plaguing his life, and Derek definitely delivers. His questionable parentage, his conflicted relationship with his ex-wife, and the fact that the interbreeding of the Red Room means that a large portion of their dying agents and operatives are relatives of his. Needless to say, every day at the Red Room should have a mandatory psych eval hour.
The battle includes Derek’s new partner (he has a sordid history with partners), who isn’t altogether what she seems. Using the resources of the Red Room, they have to work together to stop a worldwide disaster of supernatural proportions.
There are two things that Phipps does insanely well. The first, I’ve already mentioned. His characters are usually carrying emotional baggage with them and the story works well to help them in their journey. They have arc and undergo great character development.
The second thing is the action, and this book delivers. Phipps fills this book with the perfect balance of action to developmental scenes and the story reads great because of it.
In regards to the audio book, Jeffrey Kafer is a great voice and a great producer. I’ve been a fan of each of his works and he delivers a great performance in this one as well. I think my only complaint was that after listening to each of the Supervillainy books, I found myself having a hard time not thinking of this supernatural action thriller as somehow intending to be as comical as that series was. That’s more a commentary on my personal experience in the audio book, than anything against the book or it’s audio producer. Like I said, stellar work by the producer.
This book gets five stars, and I look forward to the sequels.
I’ve been a fan of C.T.’s other books (The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon) and Esoterrorism doesn’t disappoint.
You follow an agent of the “Red Room,” Derek. The Red Room is a like the CIA of the supernatural. Most importantly, they focus on keeping the majority of the world’s populace in the dark about the things that go bump in the night.
This leads to some moral questions regarding whether or not the world is prepared to know and at what point does the prime directive of keeping the secret interfere with keeping the world safe?
Of course, it wouldn’t be a C.T. Phipps book without a strong character with emotional conundrums plaguing his life, and Derek definitely delivers. His questionable parentage, his conflicted relationship with his ex-wife, and the fact that the interbreeding of the Red Room means that a large portion of their dying agents and operatives are relatives of his. Needless to say, every day at the Red Room should have a mandatory psych eval hour.
The battle includes Derek’s new partner (he has a sordid history with partners), who isn’t altogether what she seems. Using the resources of the Red Room, they have to work together to stop a worldwide disaster of supernatural proportions.
There are two things that Phipps does insanely well. The first, I’ve already mentioned. His characters are usually carrying emotional baggage with them and the story works well to help them in their journey. They have arc and undergo great character development.
The second thing is the action, and this book delivers. Phipps fills this book with the perfect balance of action to developmental scenes and the story reads great because of it.
In regards to the audio book, Jeffrey Kafer is a great voice and a great producer. I’ve been a fan of each of his works and he delivers a great performance in this one as well. I think my only complaint was that after listening to each of the Supervillainy books, I found myself having a hard time not thinking of this supernatural action thriller as somehow intending to be as comical as that series was. That’s more a commentary on my personal experience in the audio book, than anything against the book or it’s audio producer. Like I said, stellar work by the producer.
This book gets five stars, and I look forward to the sequels.
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