14 - Peter Clines

4 Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -

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...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -

Peter Clines is the author of the genre-blending -14- and the Ex-Heroes series. He grew up in the Stephen King fallout zone of Maine and--inspired by comic books, Star Wars, and Saturday morning cartoons--started writing at the age of eight with his first epic novel, LIZARD MEN FROM THE CENTER OF THE EARTH.


MY REVIEW -
CREEPY! Honestly, I am not usually one for Sci-fi, but this book was fun... and creepy. This story really reminded me of three others - Lost (having to keep punching in the numbers), 666 Park Ave - the TV show (the strange secrets in the building and the strange basement), the Langoliers (the creatures eating up the past and the different dimensions), and of course there was lots of references to Scooby doo, which made it fun. This building had so many oddities and there was something different about every apartment. There were the neon green cockroaches with 4 legs on one side and 3 on the other, no one in the building dreamed... ever, one of the apts always stayed at 69 degrees, one light in a kitchen always shown as a black light no matter what bulb was put in, just to name a few.

The descriptions in this book were so vivid I had no trouble picturing everything, even though some of it was really bizarre. I felt like while I was reading I was also watching a movie in my mind. The idea behind the story was really complex but the author did such a great job explaining everything it was very easy to follow, even for me a non sci-fi reader. The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 was because of the creatures at the end, it got a little too strange for me... but - it did have a great ending!

The character development was great! The main character Nate was not my favorite character, but I did like him, he was kind of a smarter Shaggy in the story. I liked all the women in the story, of course. There was Xela with her blue hair, tattoos and nude sunbathing on the roof, she was Daphne from Scooby-doo . And Veek, whom I loved - smart, kinda like a computer geek. She was referred to as Velma.

If you are looking for a fun - not serious, book to read this is the one!

Get it here form Amazon - HERE
and from B&N - HERE