Last Resort: A Zombicide Novel
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-10-10 06:51:05
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Josh Reynolds
- ISBN：183908104X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Hordes of zombies threaten to wipe out all of mankind in this first action-horror novel set in the exciting （yet horrifying） world of the Zombicide games。
The zombie apocalypse has driven humanity up into the Airondacks。 Enter Westlake， hardened career criminal on the path of “the Villa”， a legendary mafia hideout where he can escape the devastation。 When he’s ambushed by the undead， an old FBI “friend” and his squad of survivors rescue him… and then force him to reveal his secrets。 The jokey myth of the Villa suddenly becomes salvation for the settlements scattered around Saranc Lake。 Reluctantly， Westlake is saddled with an oddball team to navigate mine fields， trip wires， and flesh-eating zombies at every turn to find their safe haven。 Shame there’s already someone living there…
The zombie apocalypse has driven humanity up into the Airondacks。 Enter Westlake， hardened career criminal on the path of “the Villa”， a legendary mafia hideout where he can escape the devastation。 When he’s ambushed by the undead， an old FBI “friend” and his squad of survivors rescue him… and then force him to reveal his secrets。 The jokey myth of the Villa suddenly becomes salvation for the settlements scattered around Saranc Lake。 Reluctantly， Westlake is saddled with an oddball team to navigate mine fields， trip wires， and flesh-eating zombies at every turn to find their safe haven。 Shame there’s already someone living there…
Reviews
Siobhain
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As always I want to thank Netgalley and Aconyte books for giving me an e-ARC of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review。 I also want to thank Josh Reynolds for writing this。I feel I should preface this review by saying I had very high expectations and was excited for this title as soon as I saw it。 From first seeing the original Dawn of the Dead and playing Resident Evil 1 on PS1 I have had a slight obsession with Zombies。 Some may question my parents for letting me do this but hones As always I want to thank Netgalley and Aconyte books for giving me an e-ARC of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review。 I also want to thank Josh Reynolds for writing this。I feel I should preface this review by saying I had very high expectations and was excited for this title as soon as I saw it。 From first seeing the original Dawn of the Dead and playing Resident Evil 1 on PS1 I have had a slight obsession with Zombies。 Some may question my parents for letting me do this but honestly I’ve turned out fine， maybe a little nerdy but no worse for wear！ In my younger years it was just the horror， threat and good old action。 As I got older， I realized that it wasn’t just that but the psychology that interested me。 This obsession as grown with me from movies， comics， books and games。 I have spent countless hours playing alone or with friends。 In fact， Zombicide is one of my favourites to play – now if we survive or not is another matter but it’s good fun all around – especially when you add in a bit of role-paying！ See， just a BIT nerdy。So as I said I had to reign myself in to ensure I gave a fair review。 Only a chapter in and I knew I didn’t need to bother。 Let’s start with an overview of the novel。 Zombies now roam the world， threaten to wipe out all of mankind。 Several survivors have been driven up into the Airondacks trying to make a stand。 Enter our main protagonist， Westlake， an hardened career criminal （a very nice touch！） on the path for ‘the Villa’。 A legendary Mafia hideout where he can escape devastation and maybe find some closure。 Unfortunately， things never go the way they are planned， especially with zombies involved and he’s soon ambushed by the undead。 Just when things seem dire an old FBI ‘friend’ and their team （including a dog！） rescue him。Stuck between a rock and enclosing hordes of dead， Westlake is forced to reveal his secret。 The myth of the Villa suddenly becomes a real possibility of salvation for the settlers and settlements set up around Saranc Lake。 Reluctantly， Westlake is saddled with an oddball team who have to learn to work together， or maybe not， and navigate a plethora of dangers including navigating mine fields， trip wires， and to top it all off flesh-eating zombies at every turn。 Hope seems to be on their side – only when they find the mythical Villa it seems someone is already there。Now without going into too many spoilers I want to say the characters were fantastic， that is not to say all were likable， but the mix match of contrasting personalities and skills gave the novel a real feel of realism and also added in a nice touch of conflict。 As I said above this is what I’ve come to love of the zombie genre。 Even when danger is mounting some people just won’t get along， some even going out of their way to cause trouble and it adds so much to a story when these are portrayed well and Josh Reynolds does just that！By keeping the characters true to their own personality and traits Reynolds brings these characters to life， you can see bits of yourself， friends， family or co-workers in some of the traits and I found myself becoming more invested than normal in the characters。 The mixture of backgrounds and personalities create a fantastic group dynamic that is sometimes strained and sometimes amazing。 I don’t want to spoil anything but there is one badass Grandma character in here that I one） loved and two） would like to think my own nan would have been just like that。That isn’t to say this is all character driven。 Reynolds has some fast-paced and nerve-wrecking action in here as well。 Not to mention some brilliant， albeit sometimes gory detail that you are sure to find something for everyone。 By no means does Reynolds describe everything but he gives enough detail that you can easily and vividly imagine just what the characters are seeing， hearing and refreshingly smelling！ I have found in some zombie related media the idea of smell is never mentioned， while it’s not every two minutes we do get reminded that not only is our oddball team facing natural dangers， flesh-eating zombies and each other but they are also putting up with a series of less than pleasant smells。 It may seem like a little thing， but I truly appreciated these added details in creating a more succinct and real feeling。In conclusion this book has everything you could want from a novel featuring zombies and so much more besides。 Even characters you might not like you end up invested in their wellbeing。 The writing is fantastic， fast-paced and engaging。 The dialogue is natural and flows， matching each character perfectly。 The only downside is it was not long enough！ But if you are like me， it will definitely cure that zombie and Zombicide itch！The ebook will be available from October 12th 2021 along with the paperback in the US， the UK paperback will be released in November 25th 2021 （which I have already preordered！）Aconyte books is based in Nottingham， UK and the publishing department of Asmodee entertainment。JOSH REYNOLDS is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories， including the wildly popular Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40，000。 He grew up in South Carolina and now lives in Sheffield， UK。 。。。more
Lostinmylibrary
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Thank you to aconyte for giving me a an e-arc of this book！I want to start off with that I have not played the board game that this is based off of。 I cannot attest to how well this book compares to the board game。 Compared to other reviewers who liked this book more， I wonder if what I thought about the book was lessened because I've never played Zombicide。 Characters: The characters were pretty good。 There was some decent diversity in there。 I wish the characters were a little more fleshed out Thank you to aconyte for giving me a an e-arc of this book！I want to start off with that I have not played the board game that this is based off of。 I cannot attest to how well this book compares to the board game。 Compared to other reviewers who liked this book more， I wonder if what I thought about the book was lessened because I've never played Zombicide。 Characters: The characters were pretty good。 There was some decent diversity in there。 I wish the characters were a little more fleshed out， but if this is going to be a series there is still time to grow with the characters。 There's a dog and the dog is too freaking cute。 I like the character of Kahwihta the most just because I like the idea of a zombiologist。 Atmosphere: The biggest places being the Lodge and the Villa didn't have enough description I feel like。 The Villa definitely had more than the Lodge。 I feel like the atmosphere is a strong point for the book。 I wanted to spend more time in those places。 Writing: I have no real complaints about the writing。 It is very fast-paced and feels like an episode of a zombie show。 Plot: I feel like I've seen this plot multiple times in other zombie media。 There was some interesting points in the story that I feel weren't explored enough。 Intrigue: Anything that Kahwihta had me intrigued。 Like how she survived a zombie bit or all the research she has done on zombies。 Kahwihta needed more time to shine。 I was interested in the criminals of the Villa but there wasn't much to them it felt like。 Logic: Also people can survive zombie bites？ How？ I need more explanation on that。 Kahwihta doesn't even give a theory on why people turn or don't turn。 There's a massive place in the middle of nowhere and no one knows about it。 Okay seems illogical。 Enjoyment: I enjoyed this as much as I do most of my zombie media。 It was good。 Wasn't groundbreaking for me。 Ended on a 3。75 for me。 Rounding up to a 4 for the sake of netgalley and goodreads。 If you are a fan of the game or you like zombie books with a lot of zombie killing action and some cool kills， I do recommend this。 。。。more
Tom Harnett
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For Westlake， navigating the apocalypse is simple。 Get to the Villa， get his money， don’t get eaten by the hordes of flesh-eating zombies。SynopsisBreaking out of the boot of a two-bit gangster’s car is a hell of a way to start your apocalypse。 For career criminal Westlake， it’s only a minor setback in getting the money owed to him by mob boss Sal。 The major setback？ Oh， just the zombie hordes。Set in the manic world of the Zombicide game franchise， Last Resort brings hordes of zombies out to play For Westlake， navigating the apocalypse is simple。 Get to the Villa， get his money， don’t get eaten by the hordes of flesh-eating zombies。SynopsisBreaking out of the boot of a two-bit gangster’s car is a hell of a way to start your apocalypse。 For career criminal Westlake， it’s only a minor setback in getting the money owed to him by mob boss Sal。 The major setback？ Oh， just the zombie hordes。Set in the manic world of the Zombicide game franchise， Last Resort brings hordes of zombies out to play as Westlake is forced to team up with the FBI agent whose security detail he slipped。 Together they search for “the Villa”， a fabled mafia resort and ultimate safehouse。 Westlake assembles his crew and sets off on what could well be his most dangerous job yet。ReviewA disclaimer， I’m a sucker for the Zombicide series。 I even have my own 3D-printed miniature version of me， shotgun in hand， that has seen plenty of use。 So， what better way to prepare for this review than to break this out。And here’s where the beauty of this book kicks in; once you hit the book’s set up， you’re inside a game of Zombicide。 The action stays true to mowing through hordes of the undead as you do in the board game。 As a fan of the games， I was so glad that Reynolds nodded to the huge， colourful Kickstarter Zombicide cast with the crew Westlake takes to the Villa。 Westlake， the master thief， brings along the hot-headed former FBI agent Ramirez; the whip-wielding， boozy， molotov cocktail master Hutch; the cowboy divorcee scavenger Labrand; the shotgun-toting conspiracy theorist Ptolemy; zombologist Kahwihta （actually an environmental biologist but someone may as well document their observations on these zombies） and her apocalypse dog Attila; and the delightfully over-the-top-zombie-crushing lucha libre， Calavera。The antagonists of the book don’t shine quite as brightly as Westlake’s crew but still serve their purpose。 Park ranger Sayers is always teeth-grindingly one step ahead of the party， while the cookie cutter mafia goons give us zombie and cannon fodder later on。 The final act， which I won’t spoil， perfectly pits the crew against an abomination that is hellbent on taking down Westlake。If all of the above sounds crazy， it certainly is， which is exactly what you should expect from a novel adaptation of the Zombicide board games。 For all its success in hitting its brief， Last Resort doesn’t reinvent the wheel of the zombie genre but that’s absolutely not what it sets out to do。 Instead， it delivers the Zombicide board game in a way that will appeal to fans of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and the Left for Dead duology， in every squishy， chompy chapter of this perfectly-paced zombie splatterfest。 。。。more
Louisa Heaton
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Last Resort is a fantastic， page-turning， action-filled， wise-cracking story！ Renowned thief， Westlake， teams up with a band of survivors to find the mysterious 'Villa' rumoured to be in the mountains and the perfect place to survive a zombie apocalypse。Even if you're not familiar with the game， you can still enjoy this book， very much， especially if you love zombie fiction。 Threats abound from all directions， not just from the zombies and Westlake and his motley crew are the perfect mix of char Last Resort is a fantastic， page-turning， action-filled， wise-cracking story！ Renowned thief， Westlake， teams up with a band of survivors to find the mysterious 'Villa' rumoured to be in the mountains and the perfect place to survive a zombie apocalypse。Even if you're not familiar with the game， you can still enjoy this book， very much， especially if you love zombie fiction。 Threats abound from all directions， not just from the zombies and Westlake and his motley crew are the perfect mix of characters to follow along in their story。I highly recommend this Zombicide book by Josh Reynolds and feel it is destined to be a sure-fire hit！ 。。。more
Myles
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