14 by Peter ClinesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a good read. The story is about Nate Tucker, a lowly data entry person who is looking for an inexpensive place to live in LA. At a party, a guy mentioned that he used to live in this really old building that had very affordable rent. Nate checked it out and found that the deal was too good to ignore so he decided to move in.
Nate had been curious about why the rent was so low and he was told by a girl named Toni, that it was because the building was considered some historical structure. The elevator though does not work -- Nate later learns it has never worked -- and the cockroaches are dark green. There is also a locked apartment on one of the lower floors -- apartment 14. But the rent is really low and covers utilities; weird or no weird, Nate liked living there.
A few days after he moved in, he meets Veek who lives in one of the apartments below his floor. She is the one who makes it possible for the building's residents to get some wi-fi. She mentions to Nate later on that there are a lot of weird things going on at the Kavach building. For one thing, the building has no power lines and is not connected to the city grid. Another weird thing is that Veek's apartment stays cold no matter what the weather is outside. The temperature never wavers.
Soon, Nate and Veek try to learn more about the weird things within the Kavach building. The building manager, Oskar, is not very happy that they are snooping aroundOther residents start to join in on their "investigative" efforts. They learn some very puzzling things. For one thing, there are writings on the walls under all the paint. There is also a hidden underground room.
Things just get weirder and weirder. One of the apartments look like a giant fuse box with tubes and switches and dials behind its wooden walls. There is also a dead body in a hidden compartment in one of the apartments.
14 is a science fiction story that involves machines, other dimensions and even squales (whales looking like quids that fly). The Kavach building is one big machine that is helping to save the world. And like the original story behind the existence of the building, the residents now have to work together to save themselves and the world.
Peter Clines is able to tell the story in a very exciting way and there is a lot of action once it gets going. I enjoyed reading 14 and hope his other books are just as exciting to read.
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