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.)

You all have probably heard me talking about The Wicked or Ugly as Sin by James Newman. (If you haven't, they're awesome books and you should check them out.) I recently had the opportunity to talk to the guys who published these two books for Shock Totem: K. Allen Wood and John Boden. 

If you are looking for a way to spend your holiday gift card, these guys can point you in the right direction. They even have holiday issues of their magazine available. To learn more about them click here: Shock Totem Interview.

Ugly As Sin's main flaw is that it's not Animosity. Going in, I was anticipating a visit to the dentist after hours of teeth-grinding tension. However, 'Sin' didn't provide nearly the same levels of suspense as Animosity did. And not only did this book not possess Animosity's greatest asset, it unfortunately also had that book's greatest flaw. I'm talking about the bad guys doing stuff that was stupid or unbelievable, seemingly, only so that the protagonist (or the author) wouldn't have to work so hard in the end.

Now, the book didn't totally lack in suspense. It was suspenseful. Just not as suspenseful as Animosity. It was a quick read, fast-paced, and highly entertaining. The protagonist was a great big jerk, who was also a sympathetic character. (Nice work, Mr. Newman.) I also liked the villain of the piece and his motivation. There were a lot of weird touches in this book, too, peculiar little character ticks and stage business that made this a richer experience than your typical work of noir fiction.

Recommended.

P.S. For those (named Charlene) who might think this review is negative, I'll have you know that I already bought Newman's The Wicked and have it queued up on the old Kindle reading device.

Nick Bullman used to be The Widowmaker, the baddest man in sports entertainment. That is, until two crazed wrestling fans kidnapped him and cut his face off. Now he's disfigured and drifting through life after assaulting his former boss, Lance McDougall. When a daughter he hadn't seen in years tells him the granddaughter he never knew existed is missing, Nick goes looking to find the people who took her...

This is the nineteenth book in my Kindle Unlimited Experiment. For the 30 day trial, I'm only reading books that are part of the program and keeping track what the total cost of the books would have been.

There isn't a ton of crime fiction featuring a former pro-wrestler as the main character. In fact, Hoodtown is the only other one I can think of. Since this one is redneck noir with a former wrestler as the lead character, it was right in my wheelhouse.

The title, Ugly as Sin, seems to refer to Nick Bullman's disfigured state, but it also refers to the ugliness Nick encounters while looking for his granddaughter. Nick enters a world of meth, crack, prostitution, and pedophiles. Nick approaches the mystery of his missing daughter much like he did his wrestling matches, like a battering ram knocking aside all obstacles.

There's not a lot more I want to reveal. The main villain is easy to hate and the cops turn out not to be totally clueless assholes for once. I loved that the town's theater was called the Lansdale Drive-In.

I wanted to give this a five but I had to dock it a bit for something really illogical that happened near the end. Other than that, this book was pretty great. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $108.40.

As long as it doesn't fall apart at the end, this is going to get a 4.5.