Hector was the best of the best. A government operative who could bring armies to a halt and nations to their knees. But when his own country betrayed him, he dropped off the grid and picked up the first of many bottles.
Natalie can’t remember much of her life before her family brought her to the US, but she remembers the cages. And getting taken away to the Project with dozens of other young children to become part of their nightmarish experiments. That’s how she ended up with the ghost of a dead secret agent stuck in her head.
And Hector owes Natalie’s ghost a big favor.
Now Hector and Natalie are on the run from an army of killers sent to retrieve her. Because the people behind the Project are willing to risk almost anything to get Natalie back and complete their experiments.
The Broken Room by Peter Cines. Narrated by Timothy Andres Pabon. Audiobook published by Audible Studios, March 1, 2022. Total run time of 10 hours and 50 mins.
* Trigger Warnings: buckets of grody bodily fluid scenes.
I love Peter Clines’ work! He is by far one of my top favorite all time authors, past or present. When I saw he had a new book coming out, I didn’t even need to know anymore about it! I per-ordered that baby instantly!
My point is, I went into this book not knowing what to expect. Was it a new book in the Threshold series or a new series beginning or a stand alone? I don’t know! BUT I knew whatever it was, it would be awesome-sauce. I was definitely not disappointed.
The Broken Room is absolutely BATTY!! It started off as an intriguing thriller. Young kid in desperate need of help, finds ex-militarily badass dude for said help. Cue henchmen, hit men, and police to come a knocking. And the chase begins!
As the story unraveled, things quickly- and i do mean QUICKLY- evolved from your standard cat and mouse story to some NUTS mad scientist -esqe creature feature (??) sci-fi ghost story wrapped up in a thriller genre snuggie. With an insane amount of wiggly bodily fluids for funnzies. Seriously though, if a vomit-slime-mucus combo isn’t your thing, well… buckle up because you are about to get plenty.
I absolutely loved the plot. Great secret government experiment conspiracy type story. I am always down for some good ol’ fashion conspiracy stuff! The two main characters are very likable. You WANTED to root for them to make it out of this shit storm ok. I loved the chemistry between both of them. I ending was perfect. I wouldn’t be sad at all to see Nat and Hector in another story sometime in the future *ALL FINGERS CROSSED* !
Now, I really enjoyed The Broken Room. Supper entertaining and creative. BUT, I did get a tiny bit confused in the final conflict. 
I’m not sure if I missed the explanation, or if it just went over my head maybe? It is hard to explain spoiler free though… Let’s just say… I was unsure how ted fought with the other… entities? And… I was a little confused about why the scientist were messing with all this in the first place. How did they find this broken room? Did they make it? Was this explained and I missed it? Is it obvious and I just didn’t get it?
The narrator is ok. No Ray Porter, but hey…. nobody is! Pabon is alright with the 2 main characters, but not as great with other characters. Most of the scientists all sounded the same. Female voices were not the best. It was ok….
Aside from that little bit of confusion, though, this was a solid Peter Clines story. Still love the Threshold series a bit more, but The Broken Room has great characters and a creative, strange story. It is engaging and enjoyable. 🙂
Creature From The Book Lagoon 