Zero Lives Remaining

By: Adam Cesare

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

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, and 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.

©2016 Adam Cesare (P)2016 Adam Cesare

Great Lil book

This was just a fun Lil horror book to read. if you want a good short horror book grab it up.

arcade+slighty weird horror = 1up!

I grew up in the 80's and miss the arcade very very much. Zero Lives Remaining manages to capture the unique ambiance of an arcade while throwing in the flavor of cheesy horror. Go ahead, Insert Coin :) This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast

Nostalgia and horror and action!

The arcade is more than a kids’ favorite place to hang out. Legends are made in the arcade as the gamers compete for the highest score, the special items, and the secret levels. But this day will be different. Legends will die. Robby Asaro’s physical body passed away some years ago, but his consciousness continued on in his favorite arcade. Now an ill-timed act of bullying will trigger a deadly rage in Robby. This time, the body count is real.

This was a wickedly fun story! I know I shouldn’t have enjoyed it so much but I did. What gamer hasn’t fantasized about living in an arcade? Centipede and Ms. Pac-Man! There was definitely some nostalgia for me in this story.

There are few girls in the arcade and Tiffany Park has caught Robby’s eyes… attention. Unfortunately, she’s also caught the attention of the bully Chris Murphy. I really do like how the author portrayed the bully. He’s a messed up kid who’s looking for attention but he’s going about it the wrong way. We get little snippets of what’s going on in his head. I actually found myself hoping he would verbally express his loneliness and that Tiffany would sigh, tell him he had a jerk way of expressing it, and the two would have a friendly Galaga competition.

But this isn’t one of those books. This is a horror flick and it’s a good one. I was surprised how quickly the body count climbed as Robby’s spirit spiraled out of control. Tiffany has to use her wits to make it out of the building but there was no guarantee that would be enough. Her ally in these attempts was the maintenance man, Dan, who had lovingly tended to the arcade games all these years. They have to outwit and out-maneuver this now-malevolent spirit that has taken on the knowledge and attributed of each character it knocks out.

It was a great ride. I really enjoyed this tale. It had some surprising twists and the insight into Chris’s character put it over the top for me. While this is a short tale, I did get attached to some of the characters, Tiffany and Dan especially. I enjoyed the little surprises and the initial nostalgia of the arcade.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Joe Hempel did a magnificent job with this one. I’ve enjoyed several other books he has narrated and he didn’t disappoint with his performance here. One of the characters has a partially paralyzed face and Hempel brought that to life with his performance. He can bounce between angry jerk-face teen to Robby’s spirit to this partially paralyzed character with ease.

Loved it!

Joe Hempel is an amazing narrator and really brought this story to life and I definitely plan to check out more of Adam Cesare's work! Being trapped in a video arcade for the rest of my afterlife sounds pretty fun! Then again, maybe not...

Fun, old school horror story! :)

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.

Great Fun

Campy, fast paced, sparse, and fun as hell! I loved it! Adam Cesare never disappoints

Loved it

As a child of the 80s this brings back memories of summer days spent at the arcade
Combine that with a haunting and some blood and guts you get a horrifying trip down memory lane
Excellent narration from joe hempel he’s one of the best
If you enjoy video games and horror this is a must get
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

Cheesy but entertaining

A somewhat cheesy but entertaining short story of possessed killer video machines. Robby is killed in a pizza making accident at work in the Funcave Arcade. His ghost becomes one with the electrical current running through the game machines and all is well until he zaps and kills a boy who attacks Tiffany, an arcade regular that is special to Robby. The boys badness is absorbed into both Robby and the machines and things start to go badly for everyone from here on in. Old arcade favourites add a nostalgic feel, while the high body count, trapped teens and ectoplasmic tendrils places it as a B movie type story. The narration in the audiobook fits the story well, imparting both a sense action and of the 1980's horror era. It is quick, fast paced story that any cheesy horror movie lover will like. I received the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Old school flavor meets new school horror

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.

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.

Great old school horror feel.

Well what an awesome old school horror!

When Robby Asaro dies, he ends up a ghost in the machine. He has the ability to control things and every once in a while he helps out some of his favourite gamers. Tiffany Park is one such gamer. Robby likes her and when she is the subject of a bully, Robby takes things into his own "hands" and things turn deadly. Now Tiffany and a few others are trapped in the arcade with thing rapidly escalating. Can they survive?

Everything about this screamed old school! Despite being a horror, this was a fun read. It reminded me of the horror films my parents used to watch. Creepy arcade, gamers glued to the screens, ghosts and plenty of scares = a pretty great read. Because this is such a short book, there's not much character development but it doesn't suffer because of it! The plot is fast paced enough that you just fly through the story. This is a book I highly recommend!!

Joe Hempel did an amazing job with the narration of this one. He had plenty of different tones and voices for the different characters and his voice is easy to listen to too. It sounded like he had fun narrating this!

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affected my thoughts.*