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The Haunting of Derek Stone #3
The Red House
Could the road to the afterlife be a two-way street? After diving into Derek's world in books #1 and #2, readers are in for more spooky, sinister adventure in this latest installment.
Derek didn't ask for this.
It's bad enough that his brother's body is hosting a dead soul. Then there's that whole business of the evil dead waging war. And don't even get him started on all the weird voices rattling around inside his head.
But like it or not, the war is on. The Legion is back in full force, and they're heading for the mysterious, long-abandoned Red House. It holds a secret that could change everything.
Derek doesn't know what they're after --- but he knows he has to find it first.
Derek didn't ask for this.
It's bad enough that his brother's body is hosting a dead soul. Then there's that whole business of the evil dead waging war. And don't even get him started on all the weird voices rattling around inside his head.
But like it or not, the war is on. The Legion is back in full force, and they're heading for the mysterious, long-abandoned Red House. It holds a secret that could change everything.
Derek doesn't know what they're after --- but he knows he has to find it first.
144 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2009
21 people are currently reading
390 people want to read
About the author
Tony Abbott
210 books403 followersTony Abbott (born 1952) is an American author of children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller Firegirl.
Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.
Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.
Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.
Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school.
Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college.
Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 7, 2023
This third book in the 'Haunting of Derek Stone' series is a roller coaster ride. It is fast-paced and the story arc progresses dramatically. Book 2 Bayou Dogs ends with plans for Derek, his brother and Abby Donner to meet in Baton Rouge. Abby leads them to the school library at the Louisiana State University. There they identify the Red House in the picture from Derek's past.
Other things from Derek's past keep coming to light also, like a mysterious appearance of his mother. While discovering secrets about his family's long history in Louisiana, and part of his legacy as a Longtemps, he also finds out that his great, great grandfather discovered the rift 150 years earlier and managed to find a way to close it. But the three are now pursued by an army of hundreds that have crossed over the rift. Can they find the way to close it? We will need to read on to find out.
Tony Abbot is most known for his Secrets of Droon series and his bestselling novels, Kringle and Firegirl. He is the author of over 70 books.
Haunting of Derek Stone
1. City of the Dead (2009)
2. Bayou Dogs (2009)
3. The Red House (2009)
4. The Ghost Road (2009)
Other things from Derek's past keep coming to light also, like a mysterious appearance of his mother. While discovering secrets about his family's long history in Louisiana, and part of his legacy as a Longtemps, he also finds out that his great, great grandfather discovered the rift 150 years earlier and managed to find a way to close it. But the three are now pursued by an army of hundreds that have crossed over the rift. Can they find the way to close it? We will need to read on to find out.
Tony Abbot is most known for his Secrets of Droon series and his bestselling novels, Kringle and Firegirl. He is the author of over 70 books.
Haunting of Derek Stone
1. City of the Dead (2009)
2. Bayou Dogs (2009)
3. The Red House (2009)
4. The Ghost Road (2009)
December 1, 2023
Children are only small human beings who are growing. They too respond to heart, react with compassion to those in need, and revel in the intrigue of good stories, like mysteries. They do not need to be spoon fed exaggerated action to raise their interest in drama or their capacity to feel compelled to follow a story. Adrenaline rushes that are empty of content, peter out.
The beginning of Tony Abbott’s 2009 quartet, “The Haunting Of Derek Stone”, was wonderfully original. Because it entailed a Dad and Brother injured in a train accident and an absent Mother, it promised highly charged emotions. The “Bayou Dogs” sequel contained none but had the enchantment of introducing a child ally and adding to the mystery. Otherwise, the whole novel was a ceaseless race with no space for intrigue and got two stars. Tony toppled my interest down by carrying on in the same blur of anxiety to the end.
“The Red House” managed, barely, to achieve a third star from me for insight into Derek’s long lost Mother at last. However, children and other readers were taxed to believe this lady was capable of a deplorable decision no Mother would make. Any other soul would have stood in for her outrageous intention. Another historic revelation helped cobble together the third star. The anticipated red house would have generated mystique, if the cliché had not been perpetuated that evil locates heroes wherever they go. Every scene, every chapter, was nothing but a wearisome chase.
Stupidest of all was that despite the urgency of reaching the red house before the monsters, Derek’s Brother asked him at the threshold to turn around and fight a fire in the town. They were afterwards in a more dire panic to return. Derek should have finished his errand first!
The beginning of Tony Abbott’s 2009 quartet, “The Haunting Of Derek Stone”, was wonderfully original. Because it entailed a Dad and Brother injured in a train accident and an absent Mother, it promised highly charged emotions. The “Bayou Dogs” sequel contained none but had the enchantment of introducing a child ally and adding to the mystery. Otherwise, the whole novel was a ceaseless race with no space for intrigue and got two stars. Tony toppled my interest down by carrying on in the same blur of anxiety to the end.
“The Red House” managed, barely, to achieve a third star from me for insight into Derek’s long lost Mother at last. However, children and other readers were taxed to believe this lady was capable of a deplorable decision no Mother would make. Any other soul would have stood in for her outrageous intention. Another historic revelation helped cobble together the third star. The anticipated red house would have generated mystique, if the cliché had not been perpetuated that evil locates heroes wherever they go. Every scene, every chapter, was nothing but a wearisome chase.
Stupidest of all was that despite the urgency of reaching the red house before the monsters, Derek’s Brother asked him at the threshold to turn around and fight a fire in the town. They were afterwards in a more dire panic to return. Derek should have finished his errand first!
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February 6, 2017This book is a great experience for readers because it pulls you in to the book and excites you in a way that makes you feel excited. This is a good read for anybody who likes mystery/suspense.
October 9, 2018
Compared to the other two books in this series this one wasn't as good. It took a while to get into and there was a lot of explaining that you had to go through. The main characters go through some tough times as they have to trek through many locations where they know they won't win the battle such as the village where it only hurt them to go there instead of helping them. I still felt like this was a pretty decent book though and would recommend it if you have the time.
July 1, 2010
I loved, loved, loved this book! I read the whole series twice!
June 12, 2018
I actually read all of them, but I'm gonna comment for this one. It's supposed to be a kids book, but I'm a 28 year old adult and I dug it! The humor is the right amount, and it 's not too cheesy. I don't like how in each book the author recaps what's happened in the previous book. I just skip that part. The book happens to be very poetic. I really wish the author would have put the whole poem on the last chapter at least so we could enjoy it at its whole instead of bits and pieces. I like how the characters don't fall in love, it's genuine friendship and hard team work. Lots of courage. Great book for kids and adults. I'm not really into zombie books, but this one was worth it. I think because it was more on the children side than adults.
August 9, 2018
Moving on to #4.
August 22, 2019
I liked it. It didn't really keep my attention but I decided to read the next book too.
July 26, 2020
The first chapter was very confusing because it is a recap of the first two books. Once you get past that, the book is creepy and gothic. It is only for the true zombie lovers.
November 4, 2012
Reviewed by YoungBibliophile for TeensReadToo.com
Derek Stone has a problem. His brother, Ronny, is decaying. Well, it's not exactly his brother. It's his brother's body, which has been transformed with the soul of another person after Ronny died in a train crash.
To make matters worse, Derek, Ronny, and their friend, Abby, are being chased by an army called The Legion, made up of people just like Ronny, who have died and been brought back to life with the souls of other people. Except unlike Ronny, these people are not good.
Derek has been getting flashes of a poem after he saw a picture of an old red house. Turns out this is the ancestral home of his mother's family, and he needs to get there to unlock something with a key in his possession. Trouble is, it's hard to go anywhere with an army of zombies on your tail.
THE RED HOUSE packs a lot of adventure into a slim book. Even I, as a new reader of the series, understood most of the book and got into it. Fans of this series will be astounded by the secrets and changes revealed in the book, and left wanting for the next installment!
Derek Stone has a problem. His brother, Ronny, is decaying. Well, it's not exactly his brother. It's his brother's body, which has been transformed with the soul of another person after Ronny died in a train crash.
To make matters worse, Derek, Ronny, and their friend, Abby, are being chased by an army called The Legion, made up of people just like Ronny, who have died and been brought back to life with the souls of other people. Except unlike Ronny, these people are not good.
Derek has been getting flashes of a poem after he saw a picture of an old red house. Turns out this is the ancestral home of his mother's family, and he needs to get there to unlock something with a key in his possession. Trouble is, it's hard to go anywhere with an army of zombies on your tail.
THE RED HOUSE packs a lot of adventure into a slim book. Even I, as a new reader of the series, understood most of the book and got into it. Fans of this series will be astounded by the secrets and changes revealed in the book, and left wanting for the next installment!
November 9, 2010
This part of Derek's second life is about the war that is raging on. He is hunted down until he is found. He has support by many people that know about the intersection between the dead and alive souls. Some have no clue but are worthy to help. The girls mother, that died on the train crash, when it fell in an abyss, is now a crazy/mad women. In this Red House, the dead chase him. He travels through the house with the help of his second lifed brother. Inside he finds his past mother and she tells him the truth stories.
This chapter in Derek's unwanting life is another step in his journey to survival. He should just call it quits, be captured and who knows what the dead will do to him. No!... Derek will strive foward and reach his goal of staying away from the dead. He no longer needs to know anything else. He knows all he needs to and doesn't want to find anything else about his awkward life. When will he soon understand that he can't save himself. This is the biggest chapter, YET...
This chapter in Derek's unwanting life is another step in his journey to survival. He should just call it quits, be captured and who knows what the dead will do to him. No!... Derek will strive foward and reach his goal of staying away from the dead. He no longer needs to know anything else. He knows all he needs to and doesn't want to find anything else about his awkward life. When will he soon understand that he can't save himself. This is the biggest chapter, YET...
November 19, 2013
If you read these books all in succession they get really depressing by the time you are reading this one. The characters hardly seem to get any kind of a break. The whole book is just them either running or driving in the rain, everything has sort of this dark feeling to it. Not dark like satan worshipper dark, just like you're trapped in a really stormy overcast afternoon that never ends. Running from dead people. Stopping to use the restroom. Running from more dead people. Stopping at a creepy house you don't really have time to stop at so you can see some ghosts, and then running from more dead people. Maybe I'm too much of an optimist, but while I appreciate the urgency of certain scenes I also like to see the heroes have a chance to breathe and figure some things out. Reading this book felt like what I would imagine running a marathon in a really dark cloudy storm would feel like, and I got kind of tired of it.
October 30, 2012
The book i have have read is called The Red House. The author of this book is Tony Abbott and he writes A series of these books. There is a boy named Derek stone and he has a brother named Ronny that got hit by a train and was dead but his soul was still alive so he came back alive and started helping them get to the red house to figure out the secret. My opinion on this book is that I didn't really like it that much because it was a little weird with the things they did and how people die but there still a live. I didn't rate this book really high because it wan not one of my favorite books and thought is was a little different and not for me. I think this book would be appropriate for 8th graders and possibly 7th graders that like haunting books and like things that are very dark and scary. If you read this book your in for a special scare,Good Luck.
July 27, 2016
This is the first book in a new series. The link goes to the first book in the series only. Amazon will direct you to the remainder. This series is a new twist on the zombie tale and has a very Gothic feel. The dead are coming back! Derek Stone, his father, and brother are in a terrible train wreck exactly where another train wrecked many years before. At first he believes his brother Ronny to be dead, then Ronny's body returns inhabited by the soul of Virgil Black who was killed in the original accident. The books are not really stand alones, each leaves too many unanswered questions that you hope will be forthcoming in the next of the series; hence the entire series being listed under one entry.
March 31, 2015
The dead are back and their numbers are growing. Somehow, Derek Stone has to find a way to stop them. But how? And why are they after him? All Derek knows is that he has to get to the Red House. There is something to the house that could help him and he has to find it before the Legion does.
This is the third book in the series and Abby plays a bigger role. She finally joins Derek and Ronny. Now, all three are on the run from the Legion and have to find something in the Red House, but they aren't really sure what they are looking for.
Like the first two books, it's fast paced and suspenseful. And there was definitely a twist I was expecting. I can't wait to read the fourth book and see what happens next.
This is the third book in the series and Abby plays a bigger role. She finally joins Derek and Ronny. Now, all three are on the run from the Legion and have to find something in the Red House, but they aren't really sure what they are looking for.
Like the first two books, it's fast paced and suspenseful. And there was definitely a twist I was expecting. I can't wait to read the fourth book and see what happens next.
March 5, 2013
This book was a pretty fun book to read, but you only want to read it is you like scary books because it is scary. The part I liked the most was when Derek walked inside the house. It really gets your blood flowing because the house is haunted with his brothers soul is in that house.
But there are many other ghosts in the house that might hurt Derek. The part I didn’t like is when a certain secret might change everything. That would be bad for him because he is inside a haunted house and the sprits could hurt him.
So if you are looking for a scary book this one is scary. Also when Derek was walking up to the house he could see ghosts and things like that in the windows. That’s why I think this book is scary.
But there are many other ghosts in the house that might hurt Derek. The part I didn’t like is when a certain secret might change everything. That would be bad for him because he is inside a haunted house and the sprits could hurt him.
So if you are looking for a scary book this one is scary. Also when Derek was walking up to the house he could see ghosts and things like that in the windows. That’s why I think this book is scary.
December 17, 2012
This book was really good. It was the best of all three that I have read. Derek Stone just won't quit trying to figure out why the dead is chasing him. To him it makes no sense but to everyone else its crystal clear. I was trying to find the fourth book in the series but the library doesn't carry the fourth one :/. Anyways I'm trying to find more books by this author. The book was full of action, adventure and a lot of mystery. Even though some things in the book we all know cant happen they do anyway. Hope to see if anyone reads this!
March 27, 2014
I'm really getting into this series. Then I hit a wall.
I'm nearing the end of the book. Only a few pages are left when I begin to wonder how is this going to end. How will the trilogy wrap up in so few pages?
As I finish reading, I realize that Derek Stone is not a trilogy! It's a series! I've accidentally gotten hooked on a series when I wasn't planning on it. A series is a serious commitment with waiting for new books and buying them. It's too late for me.
Thanks PTA for introducing me to a fun and scary series! I love it!
I'm nearing the end of the book. Only a few pages are left when I begin to wonder how is this going to end. How will the trilogy wrap up in so few pages?
As I finish reading, I realize that Derek Stone is not a trilogy! It's a series! I've accidentally gotten hooked on a series when I wasn't planning on it. A series is a serious commitment with waiting for new books and buying them. It's too late for me.
Thanks PTA for introducing me to a fun and scary series! I love it!
December 3, 2010
This book was very interesting. This book was not as good as the other two books I read from this series. Even though it was not as good as the other two it was very good. There was alot of action in this book. The action in this book was more then the other two books. I thought this book was a very well written book and it was very good.
March 16, 2010
the plot twist in this one is going to make me keep reading. . . still the scariest kids' series I have seen. Probably 5th grade and up would be best, unless you have a younger child who REALLY can take it.
July 7, 2011
I absolutely love this series and I'm almost 30. They are such quick reads and I find myself not wanting to put them down. I really enjoyed this book because of the detail given to the architecture of the house and that the story is developing into much more than I thought it would.
June 26, 2013
And the race continues, literally, in this installment. Non-stop action from the beginning to the end. Alot of twists and turns and questions as to who is trustworthy, and who is tricksey.
Ends on a cliffhanger, once again, but guess what? That's right, I have the next book ready.
Ends on a cliffhanger, once again, but guess what? That's right, I have the next book ready.
January 2, 2010
Probably the best of the four.
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June 14, 2010this series is very good i would recomend this book to everyone who likes adventure and a good book
May 26, 2011
Derek is still trying to avoid the living dead, but it definitely ends with a twist!
May 2, 2013
Easily one of my favorite series now. I loved this book
Book Thoughts to come...
Book Thoughts to come...
December 11, 2012
didnt really enjoy book could have been better
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August 12, 2013A little slow...but an interesting insight into how some families operate and can be together and yet not. Good bedtime read.
February 10, 2019
Was a fantastic book
August 8, 2015
Third book in the series. Going to recommend to my boys who like zombies and have a hard time finding books they like.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews