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....

Listening Length

12 hours and 34 minutes
Author

Peter Clines
Narrator

Ray Porter
Audible release date

June 19, 2012
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B008CLT0QO
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
See all details

Your audiobook is waiting!

Get Audible Premium Plus for $0.99 a month for the first 3 months.
You'll receive 1 credit a month to pick ANY title from our entire premium selection to keep forever (you'll use your first credit now).
You'll also get UNLIMITED listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
$14.95 a month after 3 months. Cancel online anytime.

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

Your audiobook is waiting!

Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.

Learn more about membership

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

People who viewed this also viewed

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Paradox Bound: A Novel
Peter Clines
1,004
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Broken Room
Peter Clines
949
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Ex-Heroes
Peter Clines
1,782
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Eerie Adventures of the Lycanthrope Robinson Crusoe
Peter Clines
73
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Junkie Quatrain
Peter Clines
234
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

People who bought this also bought

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

The Singularity Trap
Dennis E. Taylor
3,746
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Ender's Game Alive: The Full Cast Audioplay
Orson Scott Card
67
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Storm Front: The Dresden Files, Book 1
Jim Butcher
27,392
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Final Empire: Mistborn Book 1
Brandon Sanderson
33,721
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
And Then She Vanished: Joseph Bridgeman, Book 1
Nick Jones
1,508
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

Related to this topic

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 34 minutes
Author	Peter Clines
Narrator	Ray Porter
Audible.com Release Date	June 19, 2012
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B008CLT0QO
Best Sellers Rank	#1,367 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #46 in Supernatural Thrillers (Books) #72 in Adventure Science Fiction #111 in Science Fiction Adventures

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

4,862 global ratings

5 star		50%
4 star		35%
3 star		12%
2 star		3%
1 star		1%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

The realskinny

What was I expecting?🙄🙄

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

Well. This is one of "those reviews" where the ratings will not match the critique.

This book is 386 pages and I read it through Kindle. It tells a story part mystery, suspense and manages to harken back to Victorian sci fi (yes there was some back then) steam punk, HP Lovecraft, the Matrix, dimensional travel, monsters, all introduced as working parts of the story arc.

So much to unpack.

This is a story that attempts to world build in an actual building.

Everything is larger than it should be and is distilled into descriptions that include the critical and mundane. I advise you NOT to try to understand everything or figure it out as you go or, like me, you may end up continually going back in the book to see what you must have missed.

The characters find a sort of doomsday device or so we think, but in an unusual form and unusual place...then we find monsters, some human some not, reluctant and undercover heros and some confusion.

The book starts out slow. Very slow.. The most exciting aspect will be some brightly colored bugs.

Now, these are not ordinary roaches but some a quite large and have something weird going on.

It is significant but not in any real way, though you will think it is as you keep hearing about it.

I was left wondering who spends time examining roaches to the point of counting body appendages, that roach would have been crushed by a book/shoe/pot/couch so fast I would have missed any significance.

Then a significant amount of the story is dedicated to the casual vandalism of the characters who are curious and stupid enough to go where they should not be, puck locks, tear up walls, peel back roomful of paint but have no money to repair the damage.

I kept thinking.."who does this ish?"

Do not expect clues of much to drop or it to be a page turner. That only occurs in the last 3rd of the book.

I found the books long on description of everything.. Everyone in the story is a self absorbed only half awake ass#$×@ except one guy who lies about who he really is ...but even the characters know he must be (spoiler alert) black ops or CIA ..or Men in Black..or..something.

Character depiction is so dispassionate, and glimpses into their past so surreptitious that I failed to invest in the story, the world or the characters and wondered why certain tidbits were shared.

Because of this way of story building, I managed to read 7 books in the time that was set aside for this story. It was a slog for me. I set it down a lot to do other things. LOTS of other things.

What made me finish it was constant monitoring and harassment by members of my book club. Thanks, guys.

So why 4 stars?

I felt it was interesting to a different type of sci fi reader and so tried to put aside my own bias to give it a fair analysis.

This story makes references to Scooby-Doo and Victorian inventors. Also there is a tad of name dropping and jargon/info about movie making and working as a temp.

Somebody tried the tactics of Deep blue sea on us by killing off the obvious probable savior.. 🙄🙄

Because I do not care for "whodunnits", Victorian or micro macrocosm world building (when world's are alluded to and a story is told in a very small space) this was not a good book to me.

But I could see its appeal to sci fi readers that like a good mystery and old school sci fi that tries to kill us with physics, mechanics, and science.

Would I read a sequel to this? Probably but I will not seek it out. My booklet will have to pursue this..

It took me 2 weeks to finish a book that should have taken me 2 to 3 days at most.

Did I learn anything? Why certainly (but I have forgotten whatever it was)mostly this book underlines how diverse sci fi is.

I found certain parts sophomoric and trite. I will not say the writing was lazy, but parts have been done before. There was not much new here, I had narrowed down the most likely to betray (I was right) and in what fashion. I also was right about who might die though I was hoping one of my choices were wrong.

This book reminded me of the movie "the knowing" for encrypted writing, Jules Verne and Wells for involved physical descriptions, Scooby Doo the Matrix, etc.

I found myself wondering who/what inspired the writer. Certain real life inventors did. HP Lovecraft most definitely did.

Writing in the 1950s, 1960s sci fi style, this book encompasses a group of tenants who fancy themselves sleuths and whose "meddling" gets them and the world in trouble. (Famous line at the end of Scooby Doo was 'you, meddling kids')

Our hero is a BORING, everyday underachieving. Who seems to have more preternatural luck than intellect or common sense and he was evidently born to be nosy in all the ways only the privileged can be.

Nate and his buddies suffer from too much time on their hands, no life or life goals, and a nominees and self absorption that makes it ok to vandalize other peoples property.

The narrative seems to be since they pay hella low rent, they have a right to explore and know everything about their entire building.

If they had not had their mystery to unravel, no doubt each of these idiots would be hall, pool and building monitors stopping and following everyone who did not live there and threatening to call 911 of said persons refused to id themselves.

In a ratty, delapidated,dilapidated, infested, old building that they could not hardly afford.*

I did not like it, mostly because I detest sci fi that gives so much physical description and placement of objects I feel I need an registering and computer degree and should be taking notes, but also because I detest busy bodies and KARENS of which all these people obviously are, except Tim who is being paid to act like a Karen*

All of this only has merit if there is something deep to learn in the case of entertainment, hundreds of pages dedicated to descriptions and snarky 20 somethings who all appear to have the latent karen gene*. It is is a yawn.

3.5 stars. This is probably a love or hate book for most. The main character is not endearing, the story not original (or enlightening )and yet, the approach was intriguing.

* latent Karen gene: a sense of belonging or proprietorship of a certain location that makes the Karen feel it is their job to police a space, be nosy, tear up things and in general make everyone else miserable while their "world saving" antics cause real harm. It appears benign when slowly unfurling in their 20s and 30s but is a full fledged paranoia/neurosis by aged 50.

We all know how Karens act, see if you can spot the Karenesque flavor in each of these people as this book slogs on.

...and like most Karens, they are so busy looking out at what seems different an ominous that they ignore the evil in their midst and cause tragedies because they failed to understand the " banality of evil " and that mostly when we " meet our enemy...he is us." ( Both famous and apt book quotes)

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

C.T.

A wonderful Twilight Zone meets Lovecraft meets Silent Hill sort of mystery

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

14 by Peter Clines is a novel I've been hesitant to review, not because I've heard bad things but the opposite. Being the irritating post-apocalyptic hipster that I am, I felt the need to hold off on this one because I'd heard so much positive buzz that reviewing this book felt like I was somehow caving into pressures of the masses.

Either that or I just never got around to it until now.

Take your pick.

First of all, I'd like to comment on the utter genius of the cover. Usually, I judge a cover on whether it's serviceable to attract reader attention or not. It's a rare cover which warrants commentary and they're usually fantasy (and made in the 1980s or 1930s).

In this case, I find 14's cover to be shockingly effective as wanting me to open the book and find out what's inside. It's evocative, perhaps deliberately so, of the 4th Silent Hill game. Silent Hill 4: The Room wasn't the most popular of the franchise due to the heavy backtracking but I consider it the point before the franchise became a parody of itself and the last period when Silent Hill was genuinely scary.

It's the little things which scare me and what's more little than a locked room?

The premise of the book is Nate Tucker is a data-entry drone at a magazine with no prospects and no real future. He's a likable enough everyman and his position is familiar enough to most people my age to illicit immediately sympathy. Nate is in desperate need of a new place to live due to his roommates bailing on him, so he takes advantage of an acquaintance's suggestion to seek out an apartment building with a checkered history.

The building isn't magically perfect. It's got green cockroaches with extra-legs, bad parking, and every room is different in size. The neighbors are all a collection of weirdos with some being the desirable kind (the sexy artist girl who sunbathes on the roof) and others being less so (a militant fundamentalist always in everyone's business). Nothing, however, leaps out to say this is a dangerous place.

Well, except for the locked room on his floor.

Oh, and the room which is vacant because it's last few (dozen) occupants committed suicide.

And other things.

For $550 a month, including utilities, Nate is willing to put up with a lot. Unfortunately, these above problems are only the beginning. Peter Clines walks a careful balance between revealing the secrets of the building while not taking it to the point a reasonable person would run screaming. The characters remain likable but they also remain intelligent, which is a quality largely absent from the horror genre except for The Cabin in the Woods.

Individuals expecting a story filled with gore and murder will be disappointed as 14 is more a story of cerebral horror mixed with gradual dawning terror than shock scares. Some people have compared it to Lost with its mixture of character-building and the surreal. On my end, I consider it closer to an episode of the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits.

The relative absence of cheap scares is what makes this such an effective horror novel. Indeed, I compare it to a movie I recently reviewed called Into the Mouth of Madness. Given Into the Mouth of Madness was one of my favorite horror movies of all time, I'm not as at all unbiased here. There's a connection to the Cthulhu Mythos for fans of the series but I won't spoil that actual connection to encourage people to people to read it cold.

Really, I think a lot of horror authors could learn from Peter Clines the skill of making likable characters. All of them read as believable individuals you might meet, say, in your apartment building. This makes any potential deaths or trauma they suffer all the more intense as you don't want them to come to a horrible end, unlike the majority of [insert profanity] who exist in horror movies as monster fodder. I'm particularly fond of the character of Xela and I kind of wish Peter would write a sequel with her (whether or not that's possible) because she's so entertaining on page.

Despite this, I'm not going to give 14 a ten out of ten. This is going to be a strange sort of complaint because it's related to much of what I find appealing about this book but I think Peter could have gone darker. The Twilight Zone rarely needed a high body count, or one at all, to make itself the seminal work of horror television it was. However, for much of the book, things relatively lighthearted. While he does some serious damage to the characters, I expected the sheer scope of the final revelations to blast some cast member's sanity.

It's the Diet Coke of Lovecraft. Which, I say as someone who wrote a book set in the Cthulhu Mythos starring a character more akin to Conan than Giles. There's nothing wrong with Diet Coke Lovecraft, though, and I love it when it's done by Brian Lumley. I also loved it when it was done by Peter Clines. It's got more calories than Lovecraft Coke Zero and that's more than enough for me.

Buy this book. You won't regret it.

9/10

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Quiltbee

Imaginative yet rounded and satisfying!!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

It has been really difficult during this Crisis to find something I wanted to read. I started lots of books but put them down as not right and read lots of other books which were ok and mildly entertaining but this book was the most imaginative and entertaining thing I have read in a long time. I am a life long fan of Scy-fi but not really the ones that stray into fantasy. This book leads you step by step from the boring, tedious normal world we all know, and data entry is certainly that, had the temp jobs to prove it, into a world beyond. I needed to read on and my plot guesses were usually wrong. The world created however is rounded and satisfying! Best read of Lockdown so far!

5 people found this helpful

M. King

Nothing to see here.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

Basically it’s 80% exploring a building to expose its secret which is just a mapping exercise with no real tension or excitement.

We have ludicrous segment with room 14 which makes no scientific sense at all then a final segment with an limp adversary (who you’ll see coming a mile away).

In essence, although there are a couple of very matter of fact deaths, there’s very little of any consequence in this book.

There’s some amusement to be had with the interplay between residents of the building, with their geek knowledge, but not a lot.

4 people found this helpful

KevinF

Don’t expect your usual haunted apartment story here.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

I mostly read in bed and I found myself incapable of putting 14 down some nights until I was bleary eyed with sleep. 14 by Peter Clines is a page turning mystery/horror hybrid – with humour, but don’t expect your usual haunted apartment story here. Well… it is a bit of that, but it’s a whole lot more as well.

Nate Tucker, a data in-putter, is on the lookout for an apartment he can afford and he finds the perfect one very quickly. But he’s warned by the previous tenant that it “has an odd vibe to it.” Nevertheless Nate moves in and meets his new neighbours, an eclectic lot who socialise over beers on Friday evenings on the roof garden. Each apartment seems to harbour some peculiarity so, driven on by Nates curiosity, the other tenants are soon resolved to uncovering the mysteries of their block. Unfortunately, they need to work discreetly under the nose of Oskar, the decent but vigilant apartment caretaker, who doesn’t treat meddlers within his building too kindly.

What captivated me with this novel was the depth of the enigma that began to unfold as their surreptitious investigations uncovered puzzle after intriguing puzzle.

However, about three quarters of the way through, just as everything is gearing up for the final sequence, the tone of the book changed from gripping mystery to action. This was good too, but not as good as the first part of the book. But all in all 14 is a most enjoyable and interesting novel.

5 people found this helpful

sepeh

Extraordinary and fun wrapped in a mystery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

If you combine Lost, with a smattering of Goonies, add a dash of X-Files, a helping of Lovecraftian horror and a garnish of Hitchcock then that's not even close to explaining how great this book is. The key characters are rich with description and a mystery themselves as well as the story. The book really hooks you and I read well in to the night to finish it. Unlike some mysteries you do get answers with a reveal in room 14 that I just did not see coming, hence the title I guess. Ok there are a couple of weak characters that dont really seem to add much but thats really minor in an otherwise fabulous story loaded with twists and turns, plus a few laugh out loud moments. The book really does stand well on its own and doesn't really need a sequel....maybe a prequel. Its rare for me to give 5 stars but this really deserves it. If you like Charles Stross Laundry series then I think this is in the same vein and easily equal or better.

4 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Read for fun? Read this, it's fun.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

Top editing job - no mistakes to remind you you're reading a book and drop you back in the real world. I liked the many slow-burning set ups; some for bizarre plot events, others just for subtle gags made hundreds of pages later. The vibe reminded me of Medusa's Web by Tim Powers (also set around Hollywood). Also, Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan, with the too-good-to-be-true apartment for a low rent. If you liked either of those books - and a measure of endearing silliness - you should definitely get this.

4 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust

14 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Limited-Time Offer $0.99$0.99

Enjoy a free trial on us $0.00$0.00

Buy with 1-Click $21.70$21.70

People who viewed this also viewed

People who bought this also bought

Related to this topic

Product details

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Limited-Time Offer

$0.99

Enjoy a free trial on us

$0.00

Buy with 1-Click

$21.70