14 by Peter Clines is an extremely engrossing setting mystery that kept me engrossed.
3/5 15/25 Possible Score – Audiobook
Plot – 3(Fine)
Characters – 3(Fine)
Setting/World Building – 4(Strong)
Writing Style – 2(Weak)
Heart & Mind Aspect – 3(Fine)
Summary:
14 by Peter Clines is mainly labeled as horror but I found that a better label would be mysterious setting with fantasy/sci-fi elements. Nate is told about a great apartment building with low rent in Los Angeles. When he moves into the building, he finds some odd things happening inside his apartment. Once he meets some more of his fellow tenants, he finds that they all have found odd things about this mysterious apartment building. Together they explore and do research to find out the secrets that their building holds.
Review:
I really had a great time listening to this audiobook. The reason I liked this audiobook so much was because the tension and mystery of this building kept ramping up every chapter. Clines created a really taut mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat. This audiobook was so easy to listen to because I was always excited to keep listening to it, to find out what would happen. It is definitely the type of audiobook that you will be biting at the bit to continue listening.
The plot is fantastic and along with the actual setting of the building, my favorite part of this story. This story reminded me a lot of LOST, one of my favorite television shows. Specifically, season 1&2 of LOST, with the hatch, is very similar to 14. The characters are all interesting and diverse but might be a little bit cliche. There are some awkward “bro” scenes about women that I didn’t really care for.
The writing style is really nothing special and rather simplistic. You can tell that this is a book marketed to the masses. I know this isn’t the most literary or best written book out there. I really wasn’t expecting a book that would blow my mind with its writing, but a really fun book, and that is exactly what it did for me.
I would really recommend going into this story without reading much about the book. I purposely made the summary really vague. The more you know about this book, the less impact the mystery will have on you. Check it out if you want a setting that is mysterious and a story that is hard to put down. I was so impressed with this audiobook and had such a good time that I picked up The Fold by Clines immediately after finishing this book.