Zero Lives Remaining

by Adam Cesare

It's gamers versus ghosts in this pulse-pounding novella! Robby Asaro is dead. And alive. He's a ghost in the machine, keeping a watchful eye on the arcade where he lost his life two decades before. And the afterlife is good. The best thing ever to have happened to him. But when the conscious electric current formerly known as Robby Asaro makes a decision to protect one of his favorite patrons, Tiffany Park, from a bully, he sets loose a series of violent supernatural events that can't be stopped. Trapped inside the arcade as the kill count rises, Tiffany and a group of gamers must band together to escape from what used to be their favorite place on Earth...and the ghost of Robby Asaro. From the author of Tribesmen, Video Night, and The Summer Job, Zero Lives Remaining is a masterful mix of horror and suspense, dread and wonder, a timeless ghost story that solidifies Adam Cesare's reputation as one of the best up-and-coming storytellers around. This is Adam Cesare firing on all cylinders--and he's just getting started. New for 2017: Bonus Short Story Included! "Cesare is a true master of fast-paced, fun, balls-out, over-the-top fear fiction, and those narrative talents are on full display in this video-arcade-set gore-o-rama ghost novel..."-FANGORIA "The victims in Zero Lives Remaining are different--far from being the typical lost, wide-eyed fodder, these outcasts and obsessives quickly catch on to the truth of their awful situation and come to battle armed in their own strange ways...enough to leave every joystick of the arcade drenched in blood." -RUE MORGUE "While Video Night is an exceptional novel, the wistfulness in Cesare's latest, Zero Lives Remaining, is twice as thick, the monsters a tad more gooey and intelligent, and the pacing even more insane. The result is a narrative that oozes a bizarre kind of melancholy while celebrating the classic video games and music of a different era while crushing bodies with more speed, creativity, and ease than most current best-selling horror authors put together." -HORRORTALK "Cesare is on the top of his game and delivers possibly his best story yet by unleashing a fountain of energy to keep you turning pages and enough horror to make you think twice about touching another arcade game." -SPLATTERPUNK MAGAZINE "I've yet to read an Adam Cesare novel that didn't A) immediately reach up from the page, grab me by the Dennis Rodman lapels, and pull me face first into the story, or B) get me to fall head over heels for this world before I'm even a quarter of the way through the book." -STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES, Mongrels and The Last Final Girl

Genres: Horror, Audiobook, Novella, Paranormal, Fiction, Horror Thriller, Ghosts

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Adam Cesare is a New Yorker who lives in Philadelphia. His books include Clown in a Cornfield, Video Night, The Summer Job, and Zero Lives Remaining. He’s an avid fan of horror cinema and runs Project: Black T-Shirt, a YouTube review show where he takes horror films and pairs them with reading suggestions.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ghost at the arcade was largely harmless until it had to kill to protect its favorite patron. Now, the soul of a sociopath is melded with its own and the remaining people in the arcade will have to fight for their lives...

As someone who whiled away many Mountain Dew-fueled hours playing video games as a youth, a novella about a murderous video arcade was something I couldn't pass up. Plus, it was on my kindle and I had to read SOMETHING while my tires were getting rotated. What was I going to do, talk to the other patrons?

As I've said before, I think Adam Cesare and I would be best buds if we'd grown up in the same neighborhood. His video game references hit all the right notes for me without feeling patronizing or pandering. The Ghost and Goblins reference was spot on. Fuck, that was one hard game!

Zero Lives Remaining is a survival horror tale set in a haunted arcade. For a b-horror enthusiast like myself, it reminds me of the part of Maximum Overdrive when they're holed up in the gas station. No one can enter, no one can leave, and it's only a matter of time before the next person dies. Some of the characters are surprisingly well crafted for a novella where most of the cast is destined to die horribly. Dan Bowden, in particular, really had me rooting for him.

There's a fair amount of gore but nothing nausea-inducing. I thought I knew who the survivors would be at the beginning and I was way off.

Zero Lives Remaining is a fun horror novella and a perfect way to kill time waiting for your car to get serviced. Four out of five stars.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars!

Zero Lives Remaining is a fun horror novella that uses the nostalgic arcade as the setting.
I always knew Ms. Pac-Man was an evil, eating machine!


Robby Asaro is a pizza cook working at Funcave when a terrible accident happens in the kitchen. Robby ends up dead and finds himself sucked into the arcade machines. He’s been living this type of existence for years. He comes to love all the grown adults still playing Centipede and all the new kids experiencing arcade games for the first time.

But a incident happens at Funcave to one of Robby’s favorite people, Tiffany and things drastically change for the worse!

I loved the arcade setting and the “ghost in the machine” theme for Zero Lives Remaining. I thought Adam Cesare did a great job with the gore factor in this book along with taking me down memory lane.

There’s even an extra quick story called Starting Early at the end of the book that I really enjoyed as well.

This is the second book that I’ve read of Cesare and I’ve enjoyed everything that he’s written so far!

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while I love to immerse myself in the literary equivalent of B-movie cheese. Something like say, The Rats by James Herbert or The Night of the Crabs by Guy N. Smith. This book definitely qualifies!

What started out as a nostalgic trip to the video game arcade of my youth turned into something else completely-a creature feature in the highest order of fun! We have a group of kids, mostly good, one bad. We've got a couple of nerdy adults, (still hanging out at the arcade), and a sweetheart of an employee-the stroke ridden Boden. (A shout out to John Boden of Shock Totem, I assume.) Then Cesare locks them all up in the arcade, (and that arcade gate coming down-whew that was something else!), sprinkles in some weird electrical and biological mojo, shakes it all up and voila! Pure, unadulterated F U N.

If you're in that mood, and you KNOW that mood I'm talking about, where this novella sounds like just what you need right now? You need to snap this one up and spend a little time in the arcade. But beware, even Ms. Pacman can't protect you in here-you have Zero Lives Remaining!

Highly recommended for fans of creature features and B movie cheese!

*I was provided an e-ARC of this novella in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1989, pizza artist Robby Asaro was killed when he accidently got sucked into the pizza oven at the Funcave arcade a la Mangler style. Dude was cooked to a crackling, greasy, pepperoni skinned perfection.

21 years later the Funcave is still rocking the old classic arcade games and has added some new games and a bowling alley, as well. It is the place to be if you want to hone your Ms. Pac-Man skills, play some Skee-Ball, or grab a mini pizza. (Microwave, of course…the Mangler pizza oven, long since removed.)

The conscious electric current formerly known as Robby Asaro is also there, watching over the arcade, ever present. Who could have known all it took was some new energy to give Robby the ectoplasmic boost he needed to really take over the place. Too bad it was the mean kid and his hate that he absorbed as well.

Now, nobody is safe. Not even Tiffany, the princess of the arcade.

Let the games begin.

I really dug this story. “Dig-Dug it” you could say. (Haha) I frequented an arcade in my hometown, called The Game Station, when I was a kid. Hanging out, smoking cigarettes, trying to pretend I was cool. My games were Centipede, Joust and Defender. I wasn’t very good at any of them, so it was a big deal to get placed onto the leader boards on the games.

By the time they tore it down, I had graduated myself to smoking something a wee stronger, grew my hair down to my butt and was rocking a Slayer t-shirt. Still trying to pretend I was cool, although if you asked me I would have told you there was nobody cooler. I have some very fond memories of all the time I spent at that arcade and I still have flashbacks and blackouts from my time in the Slayer t-shirt. Go figure.

I really enjoy the kind of old school flavor meets new school horror that Adam Cesare is really good at. Zero Lives Remaining is a great example. I really felt the nostalgia coursing thru this one. A solid storyline with strong character development in a short format. Well done.

I should also mention that I pre-ordered the signed hardcover for this one a long time ago from Shock Totem and received it a month or so ago. It was well worth the wait because the HC for this one is bad ass. It is formatted like an old school VHS tape complete with plastic “cassette” case. Very, very cool. (Of course, I had to wait to get the e-book to actually read it because I didn’t want to F up the hardcover.)

I was struggling with exactly how to star this bad boy. A 4+ star read for sure. If I take into account, the great packaging and presentation of the HC, I have to go 4.5 and then add the overall nostalgic experience, rounds it up to 5. Yep, that’s me doing math. Bam! Done! If you don’t like it, you can go Donkey Kong yourself until your Tempest gets raw and your Galaga falls off.

[Andi Rawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally figured on 4.5 stars, but thinking about it, this book makes me so happy, it needs to be 5.
I ordered Shock Totem's limited edition hardcover because it was awesome. I hadn't heard of Adam Cesare but the VHS tape cover and box were too much for this horror geek to pass up. It is, without question, the coolest looking book on my shelf. The second best thing was when the e-book came out and I didn't have to mess with my good copy in order to read it.

"Robby Asaro is dead."

"And alive."

When Robby is baked alive in his favorite pizza oven at FunCave, his life, his real life, begins. Haunting the arcade (not a bad deal if I say so myself), Robby has his favorite games, his favorite customers and the not-so-afterlife isn't so bad. At least until he inadvertently sets off a chain-reaction that results in more than the loss of virtual lives at FunCave. When FunCave becomes a horror cave, is there anything that can stop this supernatural killing spree?

This novella reminds me of a song by Tori Amos called The Glory of the 80's. Adam Cesare has pegged an era and given it all of the nostalgia of a classic 80's movie. It makes me wish (minus the bloodbath) that I had a FunCave in my childhood. I loved reading this and I did finally open my hardcover so that I could read the bonus story at the end, which was also fantastic.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zero Lives Remaining is a horror novella by Adam Cesare, who at the time of this writing is most known for his novel Clown in a Cornfield. In this lesser known story, Robby Asaro works the pizza oven at the Funcave, a semi-remote video arcade in New Hampshire. One day, he is tragically killed in a workplace accident, and his spirit ends up inhabiting the electronic circuitry of the video arcade: the arcade games, laptops in offices, and even the lighting systems. After a series of events, Robby becomes malicious and ends up wreaking havoc on a group of teenagers and adults in the arcade, trapping them inside and killing them off one by one. Can any of them survive? And what will become of Robby and his victims?

I enjoyed Zero Lives Remaining. It's basically an 80s slasher movie set in an arcade, except there's no actual slashing involved. There are plenty of murders, however, and most of them are pretty gruesome. I was hoping to get a bit more of a nostalgic video game vibe from this one than I did, but Cesare does include numerous classic arcade games in the story and describes how some of them are played, so there was a bit of that; I was just hoping for a bit more. One thing worth noting is that the main antagonist for much of the story is a racist a** hole, so if you're easily offended by racial slurs in a story this story might not be for you. Otherwise, I think horror fans will enjoy this one. I liked it enough to conclude that Cesare is a writer worth checking out, and I'll definitely read Clown in a Cornfield someday, based on my experience with this novella.

Recommended!

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A think that this was a tremendous concept. And I used to live in arcades, so I was totally into this premise. And I don’t think the writing is bad, as Adam Cesare is a tremendous writer. But I think he tried to put too much into a very short story, making it all feel extremely rushed and haphazard. Too many characters, and every occurence seemed to happen without much recognition after the fact. I think if this stuck with Jason, Tiffany, Robby, and Boden, really diving deep into the emotional aspect of each person, the story would’ve flowed much, much better. And there could have been plenty more space to evolve the concept of what Robby had become and his ambitions, also having some more fun with his killing spree through the machines, too. The ending also felt very unfinished. I just think that with some further content editing, this would have gone from a decent reading experience to a great one.

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I got a pocket full of quarters and I'm heading to the arcade!" Anyone else remember that song? Anyone?

*crickets*

Right. So, this is an awesome throwback to the good 'ol days of loitering around coin machines all day. A wonderful premise. A wonderful setting. Shitloads of nostalgia. Caesre is becoming a fast favorite in the horror realm. Highly recommended.

I received a free copy from audiobookblast in exchange for a review.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

At little more than 2 1/2 hours, Zero Lives Remaining is a fun, punchy listen chock full of B-movie horror thrills.

Adam Cesare’s latest plays with the haunted house trope, placing a group of teenagers in an arcade where a ghost haunts the video game cabinets and everyone’s lives are in danger. The ghost in the machine runs rampant along the arcade’s electrical wiring, snaring its victims in ectoplasmic tendrils and dispatching the trapped teens one by one. Given its short run-time, the focus here is on the action with the characters only subtly shaded in but not deeply enough to get too attached to. There’s the teenage gaming queen, the schoolyard bully who isn’t quite sure how to express his affection for her, the arcade’s maintenance man who suffered a stroke that ended his gaming hobby but whose work allows him to still feel connected, and a handful of others that serve largely as bloody fodder.

There’s a fun superficiality to the nostalgia-driven proceedings (Centipede and Ms. Pac-Man get plenty of shout-outs), but I never felt terribly connected to the cast even as many of them met their gruesome fates in varied and interesting ways. The creators of Mortal Kombat may want to get Cesare on the line for “fatality” suggestions, as he presents some strong finishing moves against his beleaguered teens. I may never look at a claw arcade game quite the same way again.

Joe Hempel’s narration is solid, and he gives his character voices are distinct enough to help separate dialogue during all the calamity. He has a straight-forward, somewhat airy, presentation style that brings a sense of fun and whimsy to the listening experience, and the production quality is perfect.

Ultimately, Zero Lives Remaining is an enjoyable way to kill a couple hours if you’re in the mood for bloody mayhem set against the intriguing background of a video game arcade palace.

(Note: Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.)

[Kaisersoze · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most promising of the up and coming "new-wave" horror authors, Adam Cesare, again delivers what he does best with Zero Lives Remaining Namely, a gore-soaked throwback to the days of old. He's previously done much the same with cannibal movies (Tribesmen), horror movie VHS nights with friends (Video Night) and creature features (Exponential). This time round, Cesare targets the old school arcades that were effectively rendered extinct by the combined onslaught of Playstations, Xboxes and PC gaming.

One of the best things about Cesare's writing is he does not waste pages establishing irrelevant character traits that never have any bearing on the plot (*cough*King*cough*). Instead, he gives the reader just enough to work with per character and then gleefully sentences each of those characters to a grim (and usually messy) death. Zero Lives Remaining does not deviate far from that formula, though it could be argued that after a typical prologue which fills in who the ghost in the machine is in this instance, things happen too quickly. My major complaint with this one is the way in which events go from Caspar the Friendly Ghost to full on mayhem. It makes a kind of sense within the pages of the novella, but it did not feel earned to me - perhaps because bad, misunderstood boy Chris is painted in strokes which are too broad.

But Kais, I hear you ask, didn't you just say Cesare's ability to quickly sketch in a character is one of the things you like most about his writing? Yes. Yes I did. But the narrative still has to work even with less detailed characters and I never quite bought into the threat this time around. It went from Point A to B to C so damned fast, my head was left figuratively spinning.

Oh well. Once the mayhem starts, it's pure Cesare all the way. So by the time the penultimate death had taken place, I was back on board and again smiling with satisfaction over what had just taken place.

All of which is to say, this is good Cesare. Better than the disappointing Video Night for mine, but not in the same league as the exceptionally fantastic Exponential.

3.5 Stabby Ectoplasmic Tendrils for Zero Lives Remaining.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars, rounded up for the original h/c casing!!

Robby Asaro met his grisly end while making pizzas in the arcade, Funcave. Somehow, part of his consciousness survived, living off the current in the games around him.

25 years later, enter some new players--including Robby's particular favorite, Tiffany Park. One day, while Tiffany is being accosted by a very angry, dangerous Chris Murphy, Robby intervenes on her behalf.....never expecting the whirlwind of events he would set into play.

Cesare's distinctive writing style is in top form in this B-style horror novel. The arcade games and characters themselves transported me directly to the action. The surroundings are so vividly portrayed, that the energy transference and deaths seemed to be happening right in front of me. The story left me feeling as though I had walked the floors of the Funcave, myself. Adam Cesare is a writer whom I am hearing much more about lately, and his latest books are certainly a testament to that!

A thrilling ride that you'll want to stay on until the very end.

Highly recommended!

*note: The S/L hardcover comes in the shape of a classic VHS tape, complete with clamshell casing--one of the most original displays I've ever come across!*

[Hunter Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always knew I could never trust Ms. Pacman! Zero Lives Remaining is a nostalgic blast for those of us who came of age in the arcade. I almost wish the Centipede I played was haunted by the ectoplasmic-spewing ghost of a dead pizza maker. Cesare has written a thoroughly enjoyable ghost/monster romp that hits all the sweet spots for any true horror fan. Grab a fistful of quarters and get ready to play!

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1989 and Robby is working at the Funcave arcade making pizzas. Some may not think very much of Robby's job, but he loves working there and takes it very seriously. Then, one day, a freak accident pulls Robby into the pizza oven and just like that, no more Robby. Even though his body isn't there, as the years pass, Robby is still around, passing through the electrical circuits of the video games, the wiring, and the machines. Turn the calendar to 2014. Tiffany is now the video game wizard and her favorite game that she has mastered is Ms Pac-Man. It seems so effortless for her as if she gets help from the machine once in a while. Then, one day, she is harassed by a sleezy guy named Chris. Tiffany doesn't like Chris much...and neither does Robby.

Zero Lives Remaining brings back a chunk of my childhood - the Saturday afternoon draining of quarter after quarter in those classic standup arcade games - and melds a tidy little horror story with it. Cesare uses a bit of Wes Craven's Shocker along with grabby doses of ectoplasm, ala Ghostbusters to go along with a world of sights and sounds that those of us who grew up in the 80s know quite well. The storytelling is crisp to go with the memorable characters and unforgettable, over-the-top kills. Good stuff.

4 killer Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Sues out of 5



You can also follow my reviews at the following links:

https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com

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https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A2J1...

[Frank Errington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zero Lives Remaining begins in 1989 and the prologue sets the stage for what would happen down the road.

"In the minutes before the horrific accident that would end his unspectacular life, Robby Asaro was engaged in one of his favorite activities. He as making a pizza."

Twenty-five years later, Robby is still hanging around the arcade of the bowling alley/pizza joint where he met his fate. He just doesn't have a body he can call his own.

Zero Lives Remaining is a bit like a slasher movie where the villain is disembodied ectoplasm and features an ending that is damn near perfect.

Having spent many an hour plugging quarters into Ms. Pac-Man and dozens of other classic games, it was easy to find myself hanging with the denizens of this after school and weekend haunt, even if the actual events did require a certain suspension of disbelieve.

Zero Lives Remaining is available in e-book, paperback, and audible formats from Shock Totem Publications. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read this one at no additional charge and if you are an Amazon Prime member you can borrow the book for FREE from the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Recommended for all the fun of a few hours in a gaming arcade...only with your life on the line.

Adam Cesare is a New Yorker who lives in Philadelphia. He studied English and Film at Boston University. His books include Video Night, The Summer Job, Tribesman, Exponential, and Mercy House.

[Karl]

This is copy 28 of 100 signed numbered copies signed by Adam Cesare.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable creepy read. I love the buzz and nostalgia of the arcade setting.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, new take on a haunting.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

While Adam Cesare is usually associated with the Bizarro crowd, I see him a bit differently. He is known to go into the excessive range of surrealist violence and gore which is one hallmark of Bizarro. Yet to me he feels like a bit of a throwback to straight horror and, at the most, Splatterpunk. His writings seem to be more influenced by the hardcore horror writers like Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, and the early John Skipp of The Light at the End and The Bridge. For these authors, it is the terror that is the thing as well as the main characters' reaction to the terror.

That is how I view the novels I have read by Adam Cesare and it is certainly how I picture Zero Lives Remaining . Set in a video game arcade, it is essentially a ghost story that accelerates into a nightmarish carnival of terror and destruction. The Funcave is a modern video arcade that has a second floor devoted to arcane games like Centipede and Ms. Pacman. Robby Asaro died there due to a terrible accident in 1989 and has since been haunting the arcade games as a spectral electrical force. Still haunting in 2014, He is mainly happy with watching the kids play the games but he seems to have a special attraction to video game geek-girl Tiffany. When she is assaulted by Chris, a awkward and cruel boy, he steps in to protect her and his actions transforms his previously benign spirit into an angry and vengeful one. With the customers now trapped in the arcade center, it becomes a matter of who if any will survive.

There is a certain B-Movie aspect to this which is part of the fun. The particular setting of a video game arcade is also rather unique. Much of the beginning of the novel is drenched in the language of the video game nerd. I had a certain disadvantage, not being a gamer. Even though I grew up with games like Donkey Kong and Pacman, I was never really in the scene. I didn't even know what a Kill Screen was until I read this. Yet Cesare's writing skills flows through all this and we are quickly into the action. And that is what the book is all about: the action. It is descriptive, scary and very spooky in the "ewww!" category of horror. Robby is the catalyst to most of the story and he is quite an interesting spook as we watch him go from gentle spectre to a terrifying force. Tiffany is the strong willed nerd girl and it becomes clear why Robby is attracted to her persona. The other main character is Dan, the regular maintenance man at the Funcave. At first he seems to be the one with strength and leadership but unfortunately it never quite pans out. I liked Dan so maybe I am a little miffed at that. Yet all the characters, if mainly in the B-movie range of development, still works well in this straight-out but tightly structured tale of terror.

Overall, Zero Lives Remaining does what it sets out to do; Entertain and leave us with the satisfying aftertaste of being consensually scared. I really liked the ending which of course I won't reveal. The novel may not pave any new ground in the ghost tale/poltergeist genre but it is sure to make you a little nervous when you see your next Ms. Pacman machine.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A limited editon (100 copies) of a horror novel packaged in the shape nd size of a VHS video tape and stored in a video tape plastic case.

[Bon Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books like this have cocoa-like ability to make me warm and fuzzy, in a strange way that watching horror with your better half from bed does.

If you ask me, I would never connect arcades with fear. But, once upon a time, people probably felt that way about clowns too.

So this book turns out to be a very readable mixture of sweet nostalgia and surreal horror (of ghost in the machine type, if there's such a thing).

There are some gaming references that I've bookmarked for second going through, like the perennial, archetypal truth about what it's like to be a middle age gamer, who had honor and pleasure to have the best part of his youth stretch through those few golden years of arcade.

And there is cool, indirect reference on how hard the Ghost and Goblins was. My pleasure with playing that game was limited to trying the first level again and again. Still, I kept coming for more and never complained.

So author demonstrates he's quite acquainted with classic games. My only complaint is that it could have been bigger. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's almost like he didn't want to take himself too seriously. But the setup was great, and some of the characters stuck to my heart even so.

[Ramsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun! A short read during a Sunday binge and it delivered.

Adam Cesare has written a story for what seems like every sub genre under the horror umbrella. Not quite sure what this one is… arcade games infected in haunted fungus? Whatever, it’s fun and very gory lmao

[Benji's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost: 1 / Player: 0

A quick, unpredictable supernatural thriller taking place in an arcade! Being a fan of Clown in a Cornfield 1 & 2, I was hyped to check this one out and was not disappointed. Not Adam Cesare's best, but far from his worst.

Recommended!

[Horror Underground · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robby Asaro died a horrible death. Burnt to a crisp via the slow, agonizing procession of getting cooked in a conveyor belt style pizza oven in the restaurant/arcade where he was employed. That was the 1980s.

Decades later, Robby now finds himself as a literal ghost in the machine. An unembodied spirit that clings to the electrical currents of the equipment and games in the arcade, Robby finds a peaceful afterlife keeping the components of the machines in good working order. Fed up with the treatment of arcade regular Tiffany Park, Robby decides to use his spiritual powers to defend her from a bully. Completely unaware of the true power he possesses, an unstoppable series of violent events will be unleashed, forcing Tiffany and a handful of gamers to band together and survive the night.

Written by Adam Cesare, Zero Lives Remaining is a haunted house/creature feature/siege narrative mash up pre-loaded with copious amounts of nostalgia, violence, and 80s B-movie flair. Like much of his previous stories, Cesare has a way of writing characters with a lot of heart. Although Robby is the villain, sort of, empathy for him is unveiled with each passing beat. Melding the spirits of other characters, as well as a biological threat, there is always something that keeps the story from becoming cliche or obvious. Twists and turns come with each page and every death is a brutal display of artistry, making full use of the story’s surroundings.

Released by Shock Totem on eBook as well as one of the coolest limited hardbacks I’ve ever seen, Zero Lives Remaining is everything a kid that grew up on arcades and 80s cheesy horror flicks could want out of a novella. Cesare is on the top of his game and delivers possibly his best story yet by unleashing a fount of energy to keep you turning pages and enough horror to make you think twice about touching another arcade game.

[Patrick Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Cesare uses healthy doses of nostalgia and setting to create a chunk of retro horror goodness. If you've ever spent any time in arcades, especially way, way back in the 80s and 90s, you'll immediately be able to identify with these characters. Adam's pacing is impeccable and he truly excels at the novella format, giving you just enough detail and character development to hook you before he unleashes a fury of ectoplasm and ghosts. This is an early contender for best book of the year and if you like your horror fast paced, cinematic, and gritty, you really can't go wrong with picking this up. Of note, there is a limited hardcover edition through Shock Totem that is currently still available at the time of this writing. It's one of the best looking special editions I've ever seen and well worth price of admission for the presentation alone, not to mention the fantastic story.

[Craig Wesley Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Mr. Cesare. This one really hit a sweet spot for me: the 80's arcade. I myself was the proud owner of the highest score on Battle Zone (ok, that was through a glitch that I never could duplicate, but it was still cool having my initials on top for longer than anyone) and Dig Dug; I can still remember some of those patterns to crush as many of the enemy with a single rock. But back to the book. Zero Lives Remaining is pure fun. And any book that gives a shout-out to the classic Sinistar is gold to me. If you're a fan of arcades, great kills, sick humor, and even some surprising emotional moments, this is the book for you.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This was a highly entertaining and imaginative novella filled with arcade nostalgia. The prologue was particularly memorable with that gruesome pizza scene!

I definitely want to read more books by Adam Cesare

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added to TBR List 11/27/2022
Horror Aficionado 2022 Kindle Unlimited Challenge: Z

This was a surprisingly good little tale about a friendly ghost who because of trying to defend a young woman's honor unleashes some bloody horror.

[Auntie Raye-Raye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I received an Audible copy of this book for review purposes.

Sometime in the 80s, Robby Asaro dies a horrible death in the kitchen of the arcade he works at. His ghost remains behind. He quietly waits in the arcade games, til young Tiffany Park comes along.

He has paternal feelings for her. He protects her from an attack from one of the arcade's bullies and it goes horrifically bad. It gets worse and worse for the everyone in the arcade, and for those who come to help.

I liked it being in an arcade. Even though it's set in the 2010s, it gives the book a nostalgia factor. (Do they still have arcades? I never leave the house)

I liked the "Ghost in the machine" aspect of the story. I don't think I've read another horror book with that in it.

You don't get to really know the characters. So, I didn't really care when awful acts occurred. I'm not entirely sure why Robby felt paternally toward Tiffany. There isn't enough information.

BUT, I otherwise did enjoy the book. I'll probably listen to the audiobook again and again.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome old school horror story. Anyone who likes the cheesy b- movie horror would love this. I thought the whole arcade idea was original. The story was so much fun, but creepy at the same time. I also liked the length of the audiobook. It was short enough that I easily listened to the whole thing in one sitting, yet wasn't too short. I really enjoyed this audiobook a lot and I highly recommend if you think this sounds interesting at all!
** I was provided this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this. Filled with nostalgic vibes with the video games...the story really put me there, IN the arcade. I felt like I could smell the wood paneling and pizza from the arcade I used to visit as a kid. The pacing is perfect and this was a delight to read. It's a well written, nostalgic, gory, fun time. Highly recommend if any of that sounds like your thing.