Review of Peter Clines’ “14”

Peter Clines is fast becoming one of my favorite new writing talents out there.  He has written two of the best cross genre zombie tales and his Junkie Quatrain is the zombie story Quentin Tarantino should direct if he ever wants to take a swipe at the undead.  14 takes a different turn, leaving the undead behind and providing the reader with a mystery-thriller that is like a gift wrapped in countless layers of paper that you have to dig through with relentless determination to reveal the truth underneath.

Nate is a working class stiff living near Hollywood who is getting by on data processing temp work that barely pays the bills when his roommates decide to head off in different directions, leaving him searching for a new home with barely the funds necessary to get an apartment.  A minor acquaintance suggests a place near Hollywood that has dirt cheap rent and covers the utilities.  It seems almost too good to be true, but as Nate settles in and meets several of his neighbors, he begins to notice several strange things about the place.  Certain light fixtures don’t work the way they should, apartments are locked up tight with no one living in them for ages, there is an elevator that has never worked, and a storeroom in the basement that is sealed up tight as a drum.  Strange cockroaches scrabble across the floor, each apartment has a different floor plan, and it doesn’t appear as if any power lines are coming into the building.  On top of it all is a building manager who urges everyone to avoid asking questions and just be grateful for the cheap place to live, which adds even more fuel to the fire and causes Nate and his new found friends to begin investigating everything strange about the place.

Finding out everything he can about the Kavach building becomes Nate’s overriding obsession and he leads what amounts to a Scooby Doo mystery squad of other neighbors on the hunt for the truth.  And the truth, slowly revealed in bits and pieces until the whole mystery begins to unravel in faster and faster chunks kept me intrigued throughout.  I liked how the story ties in alternative literature, supernatural elements and historical tidbits that gave the story plenty of heft.  It is a grand, wide-spanning tale that makes Nate’s obsession make sense and kept me guessing every step of the way, especially as more and more is uncovered about the strange old place.  There were plenty of twists and turns and the reveals as the story goes along that were quite satisfying.

Peter Clines has stepped away from the undead and superheroes to provide his audience with something new and fun that I enjoyed a great deal.  The characters all had depth that made them feel genuine and real, Nate was a likeable lead and the way he connects with everyone else in the apartment complex was natural and their relationships believable.  The creepy elements of the story were well thought out each one is approached with style and wit.  A good read for anyone who likes mysteries with a supernatural bent to them.  14 is a blast.

14  can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/14-Peter-Clines/dp/1618680528/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343579375&sr=1-1&keywords=14