{Audio Review} 14 by Peter Clines

Title: 14
Author: Peter Clines
Genre: horror, sci fi, mystery
Audio Length: 12 h 34m
Narrator: Ray Porter
Publisher: Audible Frontiers / Permuted Press
Published: 2012
Source: my purchase

First heard about this one from Kat of The Aussie Zombie. I really loved the cover and since it sounded like a spooky read I ordered a copy from Audible. It took me so long to listen to, not because it wasn't holding my interest, but because as soon as I put in headphones my boys immediately want to start talking to me. 

In 14, Nate moves into an apartment with great rent and a wonderful view. He notices several strange things about his new apartment building. There are cockroaches that are green and have an extra leg, a weird light fixture and a padlocked apartment door. He ignores them though because, hello, cheap rent/great view in LA. Things that seem too good to be true usually are though...

As he becomes friends with his fellow tenants he starts to notice that every apartment is a bit...odd. The group goes looking for answers and end up finding way more than they ever thought possible. Not sure I'd have gone looking for clues because come on people...look at that cover. Would you want to see what was behind that padlocked door? Me neither.

I so enjoyed the cast of characters. Veek, Tim, Xela and Roger were all well developed. Aside from all the oddities of the building and the sense of foreboding, I found myself wishing that I could live in their building and hang out with all the neighbors. My favorite character had to be Tim and narrator Ray Porter did an amazing job on his voice. They were so varied and true to life that I wanted to spend more time with them.

There are believable romances within the group but it isn't a main part of the plot. Just a nice little sideline that I personally was rooting for. One spelled out sex scene did have me shaking my head because, umm, pregnancy? STDs? How about some protection people. But the group dynamics were wholly believable and that not everyone got along with everyone else made it like real life.

The creepiness factor was a bit of a slow burn. Lots of setting things up for the last chapters before a dramatic conclusion. There wasn't a bunch of action in the middle but I was eagerly listening throughout. It never dropped my attention. I enjoyed the references to classic horror and the interweaving of a historical story within the main story. My one gripe is with the Christian like character. He was presented as the only unlikeable person in the building and I found that highly annoying. Not because Christians can't be holier than thou but because it seemed that it would have been just as easy to make him a hated lawyer or car salesman or whatever than a Christian. *shrugs* I won't spoil the plot by saying any more than.

Narration:

Wow and wow. Porter did an excellent job with each of the voices. They were distinct and I immediately knew who was speaking even without being told "and X said". I find some audio books hard to listen to because there is not much different between the voices but this was definitely not the case here. When we meet the "monster" towards the end, the combination of the unexpected timing along with the creepy voice caused me to literally have chill bumps. I look forward to finding more audios narrated by him.

I think fans of mystery and horror with other worldly sci fi will really enjoy 14. Its solid character development and creepy storyline was highly enjoyable.

5 of 5 to the narration. I don't see how it could have gotten better.
4 of 5 for the story.