14

By: Peter Clines

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Science Fiction, 2013

Padlocked doors. Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches.

There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s. Because every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. Or the end of everything....

©2012 Peter Clines and Permuted Press (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A riveting apocalyptic mystery in the style of LOST." (Craig DiLouie, author of The Infection and The Killing Floor)

"A wholly original story that weaves together mystery and the apocalypse like a finely tuned band." (Evan Roy, Bricks of the Dead)

My bad

SciFi is not my usual genre, but the almost universal rave reviews with promises that this was new and different than any other book around made me take the leap of faith. Ultimately I was both disappointed and pleased at different points in the story.

I hated the slower than molasses set-up. It took right at half the book to get beyond the introductions to the cast of characters, and as much time as the author took to work everyone into the narrative, there was little depth to any of them. You could see the broad stereotypes from central casting. The comparisons to Scoobey and the gang sounded somewhat intriguing in the reviews that I read, but especially in the front half of the book it became tiresome and trite.

Once I hit the halfway mark, things picked up considerably. There was action and the wild ride creativity that had been promised in the reviews. It was Scoobey Doo meets Dr. Who, and I mean that in a good way. (Yes, Dr. Who is my one scifi guilty pleasure). Well written, unexpected and breathtaking. The characters took on greater depth and dimension as they were (finally) given something to do.

Then I hit hour 10. After the thrilling Act 2, I wondered what the author was going to do for four more hours. That's when it hit some hard core scifi that I don't mean in a good way. The fans of the book who gave the rave reviews obviously had no problems with the turn of events. But it didn't appeal to me. I don't want to ruin anyone else's pleasure with spoilers, so I won't be specific about what disappointed me. But the movie Jaws came to mind in the sense that for most of the movie we never saw the shark, and we were scared to death. It was after we actually saw the shark that it didn't quite match our imaginations. That was the kind of let-down that I felt. True fans of Clines may be better pleased. But for my leap of faith - my bad.

Time traveling houes, aliens, steampunk...

...government conspiracy. This author couldn't make up his mind. This one started out strong and then went sideways, really sideways. I really like my stories to have a strong believability factor and this one struggled to convince me. It's not terrible. It was easy to listen to. But even if i could get past the nudist tenet that liked to dye her hair (all of it) blue, it fell apart when the building time traveled and carnivorous octopus-whales started hunting the characters. yeah...it really went sideways.

stop before the ending

it was going well, the book comes to a sort of conclusion, and then it all goes out the door, the book loses all sense. honestly it ruined the story for me. also the one fairly pointless unsexy sex scene

I would definitely listen to something from the same reader, Clive and Tim, Veek and Andrew were a little too close in voice for me, but everything else was really well done.

Interesting but goes from meh to ridiculous fast..

I was sorta bored in the first half and sort of dumbfounded in the second... Interesting idea, definitely original, but I don't think I'm the target demographic... I thought this would be more thriller/horror and it was definitely more quirky/science fiction.

80% Build-up, 20% Story

A decent listen, but most of the story felt like long, drawn-out build up to a short bit of action towards the end. Kind of unfulfilling.

Excellent sci-fi / fantasy mystery that grabs you

14 is a deceptively engaging tale that begins innocently and gradually builds to no-holds barred suspense with world ending implications. The story is set in current time with our hero, Nate, a 20 something slacker with a dead end job, looking for a cheaper place to live. Nate finds a cheap apartment. Ever so slowly, odd and out of the ordinary things begin to pile up. Along the way, Nate engages with a menagerie of characters living and working in the building, each with their own experiences with building quirks. Nate assumes control of this band of intrepid investigators as they gradually explore and uncover the mystery of the building that goes back >100 years and save the planet at the same time.

The compelling aspect of this story is the slow, gradual unfolding of the mystery so that as each new tidbit is uncovered, Clines can really "kick it up a notch" and goes on adding more and more curve balls. By the time the true nature of the building is revealed, the listener is ready to believe anything and will still ask for more. Nate's eclectic troop is also a perfect ensemble cast of supporting roles that adds to the believability of the story.

The narration is excellent with a great range of voices and tone as the tale moves from laid back to white knuckle. Expect this to be a fast listen after the first third when the suspense really begins to build.

Entertaining slacker horror thriller

14 is escapist slacker horror in roughly the same category as John Dies At the End, but with a less crass sense of humor. The setup is that Nate, a young guy with a dead-end temp job at a Los Angeles magazine publisher, moves into an apartment in an old building somewhere near Hollywood. The deal seems too good to be true, with cheap rent and a great roof deck.

Naturally, a few things are weird about the building. What's up with the green cockroaches with an extra leg? The permanently-closed elevator? The strangeness of the building layout? The cold spots? The tight-lipped, paranoid building manager? The padlocks on apartment fourteen?

As Nate investigates, he gradually meets his neighbors, including an exhibitionist artist who likes to sunbathe in the nude, a not-too-sharp movie crew guy, a female Indian computer hacker, a creepy religious guy, and an unusually fit older man whose backstory seems at odds with his skillset. Together, they form a mystery-solving gang, with lots of ironic Scooby Do wisecracks.

This really isn't heavyweight fiction, but I enjoyed watching the characters delve into the mysteries of the building and its basement, the constant banter between them, and Clines's imagination and humor. There's even a bit of sweetness, as romance blooms and we learn whom "Shaggy" really has the hots for (not Scooby). Audiobook narrator Ray Porter does a pretty good job of giving each significant character his or her own personality and accent.

The last act of the book takes us into some netherdimensional sci-fi/horror territory. The payoff isn't highly original or quite as much fun as everything leading up to it, but it's not bad, and that freaky tower towards the end is a great visual. Clines leaves a few threads unresolved and not everything makes complete logical sense, so perhaps there will be a sequel.

In sum, if you're looking for something deep, look elsewhere. If you want an audiobook that's fun to relax to, but has wit and a little creepiness, this is a great pick.

Started out strong, sort of fizzled at the end.

The first half of the book was OUTSTANDING - I couldn't stop listening when my car pulled in the driveway. The longer the story went, the less interested I became. The ending was... strange. That's the best way I can put it. It almost felt like the author created this outstanding mystery around the building in the story, but couldn't figure out a reasonable conclusion to the story and just said "screw it - I'll throw some crazy sci fi monsters together, make up some crap to tie the loose ends together, and THE END". That's probably a bit of an exaggeration - I did give the book 4 stars after all... but I was expecting so much better over the last 100 pages!

Regardless of the ending, I absolutely loved the witty dialog throughout the book. I seriously laughed out loud several times.

Congratulations, you've impressed my Wife and I

What did you love best about 14?

Characters were fantastic. Felt total love or complete hatred for every person involved in the story. And a very many Cudos to such an outstanding Original story line.

What did you like best about this story?

My wife and I was in need of some serious soul time, as things have been kinda dry. But then, you made us think, you dirty fink, you made us read and cry. So now my time is verily spent with my wife and I. Where shall we look for such book, when we search so low and high. I guess we can only hope, Mr Clines will never die !

Yep, to be sure, the whole damn thing, front to back, just pure freaking joy ! ----WOOOOOF !

What about Ray Porter’s performance did you like?

Oh, Hell Yea. Like "infinity and beyond" !

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The living has now conquered death in ways you couldn't possibly imagined. Nazies and Zombies eat your slop out!

Any additional comments?

Wondered if had, a series been made out of this, instead of the stand alone book. but when you've got lightening in a bottle, why would you risk letting it out. Perhaps only Peter Clines knows............

Nope.

I also listened to The Fold by Klines. If you have read/listened to other books by Klines and loved them, by all means buy this one. He is a very imaginative storyteller. I did think this one was a little slow to build. Personally, I found both stories to have great promise and then I disliked the direction they go in near the end. (Sorry, trying to do this without spoilers). You also won't be surprised by the ending for the main character. Ray Porter kept me interested enough to finish the book.