Review: 14 by J.T. Ellison

14 (Taylor Jackson, #2)

by J.T. Ellison 

Release Date: May 19, 2026 (Originally published January 1st, 2008)

2026 Thomas & Mercer

Ebook Edition; 346 Pages

ISBN: 978-1662541407

ASIN: B0GHZM7J8R

Audiobook: B003JOAK6S

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Suspense

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

4 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Lieutenant Taylor Jackson is no stranger to brutality, but her latest case shakes her to the core. The victims—with their pale skin, black hair, and ruby-red lips—recall a nightmare Nashville suffered decades ago. The Snow White Killer slaughtered ten princess look-alikes and was never caught.

A copycat is methodically recreating the Snow White murders, studying the original crimes and perfecting the craft. As Taylor fights to identify him before he completes his twisted homage, the investigation pulls her into a conspiracy that hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

 

 

My Thoughts

14 is the second book in the Taylor Jackson series, and when I was offered books 2-4 of the series, I immediately jumped at the chance having read the first book all those years ago. It's funny how certain books stick in your mind all these years later as I had no trouble remembering some of the details of Taylor's relationship as well as parts of the first mystery having of course forgotten the minute details. This book grabbed my attention right from the get-go and didn't let up until the end although I could have done without the chapters from a certain person.

 

Taylor is a strong lead and I liked how determined she is. She's intelligent and doesn't put her team into danger by doing stupid things and taking unnecessary risks.  I've always enjoyed it when an author takes things on a much personal level, making cases an emotional and psychological investment and this is exactly what happens with this one, raising the stakes for Taylor both personally and professionally. Because of this, the decisions she made would have profound effects on everyone around her, not just on her personally so the stakes are much higher. I didn't think the secondary characters were as developed in this one and I developed a hatred for Charlotte's chapters which is why I didn't rate this one higher as I didn't see the need for her chapters other than to add silly drama.  I understood why they were there, but they did take away from the tension of the story for me and made it more predictable.

 

The plot moved along quite rapidly which is often the case when you have multiple murders and kidnappings.  However, while I did enjoy the book and it was full of tension, it was a bit on the predictable side.  There were some good twists and turns and there were some that you could see coming a mile away, but it definitely went in a way I thought it would go towards the end. This didn't affect the tension in any way and I did have trouble putting down the book as I was invested.  There were a lot of themes running through this book; abuse, death, murder, the breakdown of family relationships, father-daughter relationships, loyalty, trust, lack of parenting, selfishness, wealth, and the list goes on and on.  

 

Verdict

14 was a decent mystery with a lot of tension even if there were moments that were quite predictable. I do think the newer version was more tightly woven than the older book one that I had read years before so reading the updated version was well worth it. While this was definitely plot-driven, the author didn't ignore the character development, in particular with regards to Taylor and the impact this was having on her as she was analyzing her relationships with her non-existent parents. I am looking forward to continuing this series with Judas Kiss.