book review: 14 by Peter Clines (in which I review just one book entitled 14, not 14 separate books)

Some books are easier to review than others. Books that entirely or even just partially depend on twists and turns are especially difficult. How do you communicate enough about the book to hook potential readers without giving away so much that you've negatively impacted the book's effectiveness?

So I'll start by observing this: 14 by Peter Clines is one of those books that is so entertaining, you're a little sad when it's over. You wish you could spend more time with the characters.

The novel is fantastic in nature, in both senses of the word. But Clines takes his sweet time getting to the story's fantasy and sci-fi elements. It's "slow-burn sci-fi," in which several chapters go by before the supernatural elements creep on onto the reader. In the meantime, you get to know the characters so well, and find them so believable, that by the time they're fighting supernatural forces, you can almost believe it could all happen.

The main character is Nate Tucker, an everyman who stumbles upon the opportunity to move into an apartment with ridiculously low rent by L.A. standards. So low that, even though he can't afford to turn the opportunity down, Nate understands that there simply has to be a catch.

If this is all starting to sound like a set-up for a "haunted house" story, you're not even close. But yes, Nate is intrigued by not one, but several mysteries that seem to surround his new apartment building. During his amateur investigation, Nate gets to know the neighbors -- enough quirky neighbors to fill not one but several sitcoms, but they're all quirky in believable ways.

I mentioned that there are several mysterious regarding the building. The title comes from one of these mysteries, apartment #14, which has never been rented or even opened, in the memories of any of the building's current residents. But why would any management company let such premium rental space go to waste in the heart of L.A. -- and why be so secretive about the reasons behind it?

As a movie buff, I immediately started imagining how they could make 14 into a movie. They could do it -- several scenes are highly cinematic. But I suspect that any film or TV studio would get impatient with all of time Clines carefully spends to develop the characters. Studio execs would be eager to wow us with the action. That might be fun in a way. But it would also be missing the point. Many of the characters of 14 form what Stephen King would call a "ka-tet," a social group bound by destiny into a connection more powerful than mere friendship. Would producers have time for that? I think back to the disastrous adaptation of The Dark Tower, where King originated the concept and term of ka-tet. The movie, as I recall, completely ignored this central concept of the books. I think back to the oddly overrated adaptation of King's It. I don't recall the book ever explicitly using the term "ka-tet," although it certainly was a central theme of the story, a theme which was glossed over and watered down in the movie. So if a movie came out of 14, knowing me, I'd eagerly watch it -- and knowing movie producers, I'd probably be gravely disappointed in the results.

But this book -- man, what a good read!