14

By: Peter Clines

Narrated by: Ray Porter

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)

Great Narration....Lousy story!!

This book at first had lots of promise to be great, but the second half of book was downright silly! The narrator was the only bright spot about this book!

Boring

What did you like best about 14? What did you like least?

The story line was leading and somewhat interesting. This was far from scary and a little silly. There was no connection with the characters. When someone died I felt nothing.

If you’ve listened to books by Peter Clines before, how does this one compare?

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe

Drags on...

This was my first Peter Clines' book to listen to.

I have become a fan of his Zombies/Super Heroes series, but this book is not part of the series.

14 started out interesting enough, but took too long to get to the meat of the story. Then it just got too "out there" at the end.

It was just okay.

too long, too boring

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, because it's too long and too boring.

Would you be willing to try another book from Peter Clines? Why or why not?

Doubt it, I didn't really like this one.

What three words best describe Ray Porter’s voice?

Good.

Was 14 worth the listening time?

No

Any additional comments?

Nope

Best new Sci-Fi novel I've read in ages!

I know I'm coming late to this book. There are thousands before me, but I can't stand not to put my 2 cents worth in. I am a woman. I find many male science fiction authors uncongenial because they seem to care more about their hardware (guns, spaceships, etc.) than about their characters. All too many of their characters are without personality or any characteristic which would mark them as actual people with pasts.

On the other hand, I find all too many female science fiction and fantasy authors uncongenial because they are merely dressing up their romance novels with lame science fiction or fantasy trappings. They have put in far too little thought about such trivialities as plot and world building and too much into descriptions of the hero's manly pecs.

Peter Clines has found the perfect middle ground. The ideas, plot, and hardscape are intricate, well thought out--amazing even. And yet the characters are also well imagined. Each character has her or his own personality. They bring a myriad of abilities to contribute to the solution of the various problems.

I highly recommend this book.

HOW STRANGE!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Initially I was really into the story line of this book, then it just turned strange. I was so upset that I'd spent hours waiting for THAT! Not to give anything away but the author took something so promising and just made it weird.

What could Peter Clines have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The premise of the book was good up until the left turn, then it was just BAD.

What aspect of Ray Porter’s performance would you have changed?

The reader did a good job.

Could you see 14 being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes with a different ending.

Any additional comments?

I read the reviews and trusted the other listeners. I even recommended the book to my husband who now thinks I'm a certified fruit loop. I'm not allowed to recommend anything to him until I've finished listening first.

This is a best seller?!

What does Ray Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ray Porter was a pretty decent voice actor. There were very few times if any that I didn't know who was speaking due to his solid voice acting.

Was 14 worth the listening time?

No.

Any additional comments?

This is my first book by this author. I was trying something out of my comfort zone by picking up a "best seller". After reading all the rave reviews I was pretty excited about listening to 14. Unfortunately I found it very mediocre; to the point where it was difficult to push through a lot of areas in the book and make it to the end. The story concept for me was pretty interesting (no spoilers) but where it really fell short imo is the lack of character development. At no point in the story was I concerned for, feel empathy towards or want to be any of the characters in this story. The dialogue could also use work. Others have obviously enjoyed it so maybe I'm strange but if this is what passes for a best seller these days then I guess that's why I don't normally read them.

Slow, boring and a waste of time

Would you try another book from Peter Clines and/or Ray Porter?

Absolutely NOT. The story was slow moving until the last 3 hours ... I guess it was supposed to be a build up but for the first 10 hours I kept wishing something would happen. This writer is NOT a new Stephen King. He does not have the ability to paint the visual pictures. The reader was so unremarkable that I had a hard time keeping awake listening .. when I noticed I'd drifted off either in sleep or just daydreaming I didn't even bother to go back and see if I had missed something. His voice and accent are good, but he is not an actor and there is no impact quality to his deliverance.

What was most disappointing about Peter Clines’s story?

It went on and on and got nowhere ... All the action is packed into the last 3 hours. There is a LOT that is irrelevant that we are doused with ... could shave left out all the stuff about Nate's work, for example. Just more time wasted and didin't add to the story at all.

What aspect of Ray Porter’s performance would you have changed?

He needs acting lessons! all the characters, even tho accents were a bit different, had the same tonal quality

Did 14 inspire you to do anything?

Yes, it inspires me to call Audible and ask for a refund. Unfortunately they can give me back only my money . not my valuable time.

Any additional comments?

Wish I could remember where on Audible I got the recommendation for this book so I will know NOT to listen to that source again.

Genre Bending Story

'Kavach' is a Hindi word meaning armor, Astrologists create 'Kavach amulets' and bless them to protect people. In some Indian religions, it means 'The Divine Protector'.

When Nate Tucker moves into The Kavach Building close to the Los Feliz District, he finds a brick-and-mortar building (very unusual for earthquake-prone Los Angeles) built in 1894, with rent so low the building could have been in rent-controlled Santa Monica, and tenant turnover so high it can't be explained by the nightly search for parking and the bright green cockroaches with an extra appendage that inhabit the building. Nate, stuck in a soul-sucking slightly-above-minimum-wage data entry job updating mailing lists, finds a group of friends among the, old and new.

Nate and his friends become 'Mystery, Incorporated' - the Scooby Doo! gang. (Peter Clines draws the comparison, not me - but if he hadn't, I would have.). The tenants decide to discover the mystery of The Kavach Building, with it's never-working elevator, the two-story layout of one apartment, the ice cold walls of another, and the forever padlocked from the outside 14. Nate styles himself 'Shaggy', and his 'Velma' is Veek, the wise-talking neighbor who has a mysteriously powerful computer set up. One of my favorite historical scientists even plays a part in the story, although mentioning who it was would be a spoiler. It's a fun adventure, and the building is well named.

When I finished the book, I had to go back and look at Audible to see what genre it was. It's in contemporary Sci-Fi, but it could just has easily have been in (Lovecraftian) Horror, modern or historical horror, Mystery, or (contemporary) Fiction. It's also laugh-out-loud funny in places.

Clines is great at dialogue. When characters swear, it's not gratuitous - Veek in particular has a way of putting what would have been a page of explanation and back and forth into one well chosen word. His character development - Nate's bumbling micromanager boss was one of my favorites - made me think back to a boss I had many, many years ago who used to stand behind me while I keyed in data and tell me every time I miss-keyed. Maybe Clines worked for the same guy I did - and instead of getting frustrated and angry, Clines wrote him into an amusing archetype.

This book didn't convert me to a devoted follower of contemporary Sci-Fi, but I will read more Clines. Ray Porter's narration was good, but there were a couple of places where some male characters sounded like each other.

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Meh

Not sure why everyone is over the moon on this one, thought it clearly took too long to get going, mostly to develop characters that nevertheless hang around the depth of a CBS tv pilot. In order to distinguish these, the narrator goes above and beyond let's say, but it just hangs a lantern on what's not there. Ultimately the author sticks the landing to a degree, but I was still vaguely irritated with it until the end, at which point I shrugged.