Huge fun! Like the others in this series/setting, approach with a good idea of what you're getting in for. This isn't serious at all, but it's an enjoyable and clever zombie adventure. Better than 'Dead Island', for my money!

LAST RESORT - Zombicide – by Josh Reynolds – DNF 28%

As a huge fan of all things Zombie and Apocalypse centered, I knew I needed to read this Book. I understand that LAST RESORT is based on a video game; though I have never played it, my interest is somewhat piqued.

The opening of the book pulled me right in immediately and held my interest; however, the way certain scenes play out seems to contradict the narrative. Also, the peril the characters are placed in loses tension with the ease in which they walk away unscathed, never touched by Zombie’s hands even though they surround them.

Thank you, NetGalley and Aconyte Books (Asmodee Entertainment Ltd), for providing me with an eBook of LAST RESORT at the request of an honest review.

Before the dead arose Westlake was a career criminal. An absolute professional. On his last job he was double crossed, not paid, now the world has ending and he wants his money. To get it Westlake will need to find a near legendary mob location up in the Adirondacks , the Villa. To find the Villa Westlake is going to need a crew, something the local survivor settlements might be willing to provide him if they think there is something in it for them. The Villa could be the survivor’s salvation. Could be if Westlakes rag tag crew can pull together enough to reach it through the wilderness, the traps laid in their path, and the hordes of undead.

I make no secret that I enjoy Josh Reynolds’ writing and Last Resort: A Zombicide Novel is both a beneficiary of that and an example of why I find myself a fan. I find myself unsure if I would have picked up a first Zombicide novel if it had not been Reynolds’ work, the game itself seems interesting but I have very little background knowledge for it beyond thinking that the survivor minis look pretty cool. I have no idea if Last Resort is a good introduction to the world of Zombicide, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

One of the main things for Last Resort is that Reynolds has a really good feel for his pacing here. The characters are always in just enough danger that they have to be careful. Just enough danger that a credible threat could easily show up at any moment, but little enough danger that he can crank up the threat level and leave most of the cast feeling legitimately at risk without it feeling out of nowhere. The sort of danger fatigue that can plague adventure stories and the sort of protagonist sense of immortality manage to both be absent here and it works pretty fantastically. The quiet moments have this sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop with Westlake noting the quiet moans of the zombie hoard following the group or the renegade forest ranger having set traps and knowing the lay of the land so she could be anywhere.

Adding to that sense of tension, the characters all felt like proper characters rather than there being any really obvious sacrificial characters. They were all written in such a way that the reader could pretty easily get attached to any of them. I found myself wanting to know more about these characters, their lives within the survivor community and what they had been before the dead started to rise. It built up to everyone feeling significant enough that when a character death did happen it felt like an actual shock, a significant impact on the plot that would affect the rest of the party. It felt like a gut punch in the best way.

I have nothing bad to say about Last Resort, Reynolds is shaping up to be one of my favorite authors and this is exactly the kind of writing I generally expect from him. Plus it feels like a good introduction to the Zombicide setting for those who have not played the game before. I would definitely read more of these, so Last Resort gets a five out of five from me.

Ok, I'll admit I'm shocked. I absolutely love this book. I have never read Reynolds before. But I'll definitely be looking for me. I asked for this because I love zombies. Oh boy this book delivered. There are some awesome scenes with a lot of zombie action. If you love zombies you have to read this.

Last Resort: A Zombicide Novel

Josh Reynolds

Aconyte Books

I can't really think of a better trio to blend together than one of my favourite publishers (Aconyte Books), one of my favourite authors (Josh Reynolds) and the board game I am most interested in owning and eventually reviewing one day (Zombicide). So you can perhaps imagine just how excited I was when the advanced review copy for Zombicide: Last Resort became available to download from the publisher's page on NetGalley. The combination of publisher, author and source material alone would have had me champing at the bit to get reading and reviewing, but the cover art and back-cover blurb only increased my frenzied excitement. Taken together, they embody the frantic, action-packed and often tongue-in-cheek nature of the Zombicide board games. As the zombie apocalypse starts, veteran criminal Westlake is looking for a legendary hidden mafia hideout from which he can ride out the end of the world. Nearly overrun by the undead in the process, he's saved by an old acquaintance - an FBI agent leading a group of survivors. Forced to give up his destination, Westlake finds himself having to navigate the endless hordes of zombies, tripwires, minefields and numerous other dangers just to get to the entrance to "the villa". But even if they can get to the hideout, someone is already there - and they don't want to share. It's a fantastic setup for a novel, and the appearance of a luchador wrestler on the cover art only made me more intrigued to see what gore-soaked craziness Reynolds had in store for me.

Last Resort opens in the sort of memorable style that is one of Reynolds' signatures, with Westlake cuffed and bruised in the trunk of a car, at the mercy of two mafia enforcers who plan to execute and bury him for turning witness for the FBI. But fortunately for Westlake - if not the world as a whole - they're interrupted by several undead corpses who rip apart the mafia enforcers and allow Westlake to escape unscathed. Fast forward a few months, and as the world burns around him, Westlake is gathering supplies and clues to the location of the Villa, where he can hole up for as long as necessary. Ambushed by a horde of the undead as he makes his way towards the isolation offered by the Adirondacks, he's saved thanks to the intervention of a small band of survivors led by former FBI agent Estela Ramirez - someone who is very familiar with Westlake and knows exactly how dangerous he is. However, when he offers to work with Ramirez and the rest of the survivors locate and take over the mysterious villa - supposedly a secretive mafia fortress somewhere in the mountains - an uneasy alliance is formed between Westlake and Ramirez with the goal of creating a permanently secure camp for those few humans left in the region. Westlake and Ramirez, accompanied by a paranoid survivalist, a Luchero wrestler and a motley collection of other survivors, venture into the mountains in search of the Lodge - only to discover that there are those who wish to get to it first and will do anything to ensure they are not followed; and that the inhabitants of the Lodge are not what they seem.

Reynolds manages to deftly capture the feel of the boardgame that the novel is adapted from, readily translating the fast-paced, chaotic action and somewhat tongue-in-cheek humour into a cohesive and thrilling zombie apocalypse narrative, while also adding in his own characteristic brand of engaging characters and brutally vibrant action sequences. Taken all together, that makes it an incredibly fun and entertaining novel that I thoroughly enjoyed, polishing off the entire novel in the course of just two reading sessions over a single day. Much of the appeal comes from the small but potent cast of characters that Reynolds has assembled, which simultaneously manage to stick to the character archetypes found in the boardgame while also developing their own personalities and character flaws. Westlake is a rather endearing protagonist calm, self-assured, cocky even; a villain for sure, and yet not a particularly violent one, which frankly makes a pleasant change when it comes to post-apocalyptic fiction. Instead we find that he's a born conman and thief, someone who works better with getting results through charisma and misdirection rather than his fists or a knife, and much of the novel's narrative and direction derives from the hidden goals Westlake has in locating the hidden villa and the prize at the heart of it that he longs for. Even his motivations for that prize, once revealed towards the end of the novel, make a twisted sort of sense and tie in nicely to the rest of the narrative. The counterpart to the roguish anti-hero is former FBI agent Ramirez, attempting to lead her group of survivors to some form of safety despite ever-decreasing supplies and ever-increasing number of undead, and I liked her stolid, unshakeable determination and frustrated relationship with Westlake that slowly morphs as they approach the villa and its occupants. 

But perhaps the best character in the entire book is El Calavera Santo, or the Holy Skull, a brilliant creation of Reynolds and perhaps one of the greatest characters he's created across all of his published works. Santo is a Luchero wrestler who treats the zombie apocalypse little differently to pre-undead times, artfully destroying zombies with his bare hands to cheers from an audience of survivors, and doggedly moving forward with the unassailable belief that he is protected by a patron saint overseeing his work. His character carefully teeters on the edge of surrealism, the sort of the thing that the Zombicide games revel in, and yet Reynolds manages to ensure he doesn't come across as too ludicrous, even managing to give Santo an air of quiet respectability as he crushes zombies and goes toe-to-toe with some of the largest and most powerful zombies around. And speaking of the undead themselves, the different varieties found in the boardgame mean that Reynolds has free reign to play with them and make them stand out in comparison to the Romero-style undead that so often infest the genre. Each of the different types of zombie are imbued with an inherent sense of menace and danger despite their unusual nature and appearance. There are running zombies, bloated zombies, gigantic zombies, and even floaters; these last kind are particularly sinister and unsettling in the way they float through the water, only moving when they hear or feel movement, and there's a scene moving through a lake that Reynolds turns into something incredibly tense and unsettling through their use. There's even a human character who studies and analyses the different types of zombies, allowing for some intriguing discussions about their evolution and ability to remain a threat months after death, which again is a rarity in genre titles.

There's always a quiet confidence to stories written by Josh Reynolds that means you can get right into reading them regardless of genre or setting, and Last Resort is no exception to this rule. This is a streamlined, action-packed and gore-soaked tribute to the Zombicide setting that you'll devour almost as fast as one of its zombies devours a screaming human survivor, populated with imaginative and three-dimensional characters that stay with you long after the novel has ended, with Reynolds making excellent use of the different zombie types in the boardgame to create a chilling and nightmarish scenario for Westlake, Ramirez and the other survivors. I'd love to see some of the surviving characters from the novel return in another adventure; but even if they don't, I'd absolutely love to see Reynolds be commissioned to write another novel (or novels plural) in the Zombicide setting, as I'm intrigued to see what else he can do with it. Thoroughly recommended for anyone who likes the Zombicide boardgame, like myself, or just wants to read a high-quality zombie apocalypse novel.

For Westlake, navigating the apocalypse is simple. Get to the Villa, get his money, don’t get eaten by hordes of flesh-eating zombies.

Synopsis

Breaking 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.

Review

A 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 in the original game so this is a special book for me.


CMON
The action in Last Resort 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 Zombicide cast with the crew Westlake takes to the Villa. Master thief Westlake 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 plenty of 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.


Things look real bad for Westlake
If all of the above sounds crazy, Last Resort certainly is, which is exactly what I expected from a novel adaptation of the Zombicide board game. For all its success in hitting its brief, Last Resort doesn’t reinvent the wheel of the zombie genre but it delivers a classy zombie romp in a way that will appeal to fans of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and the Left for Dead video games, in every squishy, chompy chapter of this perfectly-paced zombie splatterfest.

More from Aconyte

I should mention for fans of sci-fi and the Zombicide Invader series, Aconyte will be publishing Planet Havoc by Tim Waggoner in February 2022 (US) and March 2022 (UK).

This was a fun fast paced adventure that adds to an already thrilling game!

Josh Reynolds has created a fun and adventurous tale. I really enjoyed this story and I think that most thriller and horror readers will enjoy it too! The characters are fun and fleshed out keeping you invested in every move that they make.

Things I loved:
-Westlake’s character arc from criminal mastermind to misunderstood antihero was a great ride start to finish.
-The description of the zombies was graphic and gory. Exactly what I live in my zombie stories.
- Sayers is a fun character that I want to know more about now. Her motives are so unique and fun.


All in all this story is a quick and even scary story. Give it a read!

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Zombicide book Last Resort by Josh Reynolds, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am also friend with Josh on Facebook, however I am sure for him that’s more about connecting with fans rather than being one of my best buds, that said he is actually a really nice guy.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Zombicide
Zombicide is a co-op adventure game set in a post zombie apocalyptic world, created by Guillotine Games and published by CMON.

Its someone of a Kickstarter success story and is now in its 2nd edition. Each player controls a survivors, as they look to complete a narrative objective before being overrun by zombies, who come in various different forms, such as walkers, crawlers, brutes etc.

Its also been spun off into both a Fantasy and Sci-Fi theme.

I personally own most of what's been published for the 1st edition with all of the major expansions and a good deal of minor ones too, but I am still struggling to find Dave the Geek to complete my “not The Big Bang Theory” survivors.

The Story
The story begins in the very opening stages of the apocalypse as the main protagonist Westlake escapes from a mob assassination, and then it picks up some months later with his being on the hunt for a mountain mob hideaway known only as “The Villa”.

Running into a former FBI agent who he previously escaped from, Westlake puts together a crew of her, a masked Mexican Wrestler, a college student who has been studying the zombies, a wannabe cowboy, and a conspiracy theorist to head up into the mountains and claim The Villa for a community of survivors to move in and make secure.

However treachery from within the survivor’s camp causes the expedition to go awry and forces Westlake’s “crew” to head off ahead of time and make some challenging decisions.

Conclusion
I warn you that this book is not for the squeamish, its very bloody, very gory and filled with plenty of gross moments.

That’s a good thing, its a zombie novel that doesn’t pull any punches and just lives up to the idea of what it is.

Westlakes crew is extraordinarily well developed and despite not having huge amount’s of page time, they actually get it right and show off their background and character traits in a way that means when they face danger, you feel stress because you have become close to them.

For me everything else is a bonus, Josh has created a book that really explores the characters so well that its absolutely riveting, it started off strong with an amazing opening chapter and never let up in its intensity nor quality.

my only criticism is that the secondary antagonist’s seemed a little cliché and cookie cutter, but that’s a stretch as their character wasn’t that important to the story.

Its a great book filled with grossness, natural and very well written flowing dialogue and leaves you craving more.

Absolutely 5 out of 5 stars.

A Zombicide novel

I received an advance reader copy of this book from Aconyte Books via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is based on the Zombicide board game. As with the Patient Zero novel I read a few weeks ago, I was curious as to how a board game could be adapted to book form. Even though I know very little about the board game, I found Last Resort to be a very enjoyable read, combining a fairly standard zombie story with heist elements.


Four months after the onset of the zombie apocalypse, a former thief is rescued in a small town by a group of survivors out on a supply run. The thief, out to settle an old score with a mob boss, tells the survivors about the mob boss’s fortress in the mountains nearby. The survivor’s community agrees to help him in exchange for taking over the fortress themselves if successful. The rest of the story involves the thief and his small crew trying to reach the fortress and then take control of it.

I gave Last Resort five stars. It moves along at a fast pace and includes tons of zombie mayhem. The characterizations are a little on the shallow side, but that’s not what I read zombie stories for anyway.

Ok, I'll admit I'm shocked. I absolutely love this book. I have never read Reynolds before. But I'll definitely be looking for me. I asked for this because I love zombies. Oh boy this book delivered.
Also, I have never played the board game, but I am really considering it. Apparently, this is based on that game.

It also appears people can survive a zombie bite. Come on I really need more information. But I understand this is going to be a series so maybe they will reveal the how. Who knows. But I'll be definitely looking for the next one.

There are some awesome scenes with a lot of zombie action. If you love zombies you have to read this.

Enjoy!

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review

The world is overrun by the undead. Everyone alive is trying to survive as the zombies are adapting. When news of a villa arrives with a criminal, the survivors are forced to trust in him and find this safe haven

The Last resort is enjoyable and the scenes are descriptive to help you experience the apocalyptic world overran by zombies

It was interesting to see how surviving made each Character develop and become different people

Zombie fiction has had a recent boom in popularity over the last decade or so. This has been due in part to the success of certain films and television shows boosting the undead back into public consciousness. And whilst the creatures might be less used in film and TV now than they were even a few years ago, one place they're always been popular is gaming. Whether its table top or video games, zombies have been a great way of mowing down enemies guilt free since forever.

One of the games that makes particularly good use of zombies is Zombicide, a series that has produced zombie survival board games across multiple settings, including fantasy and science fiction. Because of the breadth of settings that Zombicide uses I knew as soon as it was announced that Aconyte Books were going to be producing fiction for the series that we'd be in for some interesting stuff. And whilst there has already been a sci-fi setting announced for one of the upcoming books the series is starting off with a foot in the more traditional zombie story camp by giving readers a modern zombie tale in Last Resort.

Last Resort tells the story of Westlake, a professional thief who gets double crossed by a mob boss and so agrees to give state evidence against him to send him a message not to screw with him. Unfortunately for Westlake, Sal has a couple of his goons grab Westlake in order to make the problem go away. Driven out into the woods to be executed, things take an unexpected turn when the living dead appear, killing Westlake's assailants and giving him the chance to escape. But the dead aren't just here, they're everywhere, and pretty soon the world as we know it comes to an end.

A few months later Westlake has headed out to Saranac Lake, where he knows Sal has a hidden hideaway called 'the Villa'. After being picked up by a group of survivors, including an FBI agent, a biker, and a masked luchador, Westlake convinces them that the Villa offers them the best chance for survival. Now Westlake puts together a team of misfits in order to find and take the Villa, so that the survivors can get a safe place to live, and so that Westlake can take what Sal owes him.

Where so many zombie stories feel dull and dour, where the characters are barely managing to survive and just trying to make it from one day to the next, Last Resort feels a lot of fun in comparison. The story is a little bit ridiculous, and it seems to know that it's a bit silly. The characters range from fairly average to completely over the top, and there's regular bickering and sniping between the team that leaves it all feeling a bit tongue in cheek. And this works really well.

The book felt like a lot of fun because of this. It felt strangely light at times, which is amazing considering it's the end of the world and people are barely surviving. I think a large part of this is that the book didn't try to be anything beyond what the game is. It looked at the strange mutated zombies and the bright and colourful player characters and it embraced that completely. The end result is a book that will not only avoid blending into the crowd of dull and depressing zombie stories, but will stand out from the crowd because of its sense of fun and weirdness.

A lot of the time with zombie stories you know that the vast majority of characters are going to end up dying, and so you try not to get too attached to them. In this case I found it really, really hard to avoid that, as the characters were so much fun that I couldn't help but find them wonderfully engaging and entertaining. Even when the characters are bickering an fighting with each other there's small sparks of wit and humour that bring the scenes to life in a way that I wasn't expecting. I wanted more time with the characters, and even though it's not a short book it felt a lot shorter because I wanted to hang out with these people more. The only down side to this is that when some of them die (sorry, spoiler warning) it actually felt like a loss and left me feeling sad.

With there being so many zombie stories set in the modern day, seeing a group of survivors coming together to try and reach a supposed safe haven I did wonder if starting the Zombicide books with this kind of premise would lead to the book feeling dull or overly familiar; but I was completely wrong. It took a theme and a story that I'd seen done a lot and put a whole new fun spin on things. Now I'm even more excited to see what else the Zombicide books will do, and how wild they're going to be.

Aconyte Books’ range of novels based on the board game Zombicide begins with Josh Reynolds’ Last Resort, an entertaining and action-packed tale of survival against the odds after a zombie apocalypse. Westlake is a career thief, determined to brave the dangers of the zombie-infested Adirondack Mountains in search of ‘the Villa’, a semi-mythical sanctuary controlled by a vicious mafia kingpin. When he’s saved from serious trouble by a ragtag group of survivors led by an ex-FBI agent of his acquaintance, he sees the opportunity to find a crew of sorts to help him reach and access the Villa, if only he can persuade them to help. Luckily for Westlake, the survivors are growing increasingly desperate, and are willing to risk much for the chance to find a safe haven from the zombies.

So it is that Westlake, ex-Agent Ramirez and a disparate crew – including a zombie-studying college student (and her dog), a conspiracy theorist, a cowboy, a biker and (of all things) a luchador – find themselves hiking through the mountains and fending off zombies from all quarters. It’s a fun, compelling setup and in typical fashion Reynolds does a great job of throwing together this unexpected mix of characters, slowly revealing their histories and secrets, and seeing whether they’re able to work together, set against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse that’s slowly wearing everyone down. Supplies are running low, zombies are everywhere, and there’s an underlying sense of both desperation and exhausted acceptance, with the tantalising prospect of the Villa – if it really exists; if it’s as much of a sanctuary as Westlake says; if they can find it and find a way inside – offering a powerful stimulus.

Westlake and Ramirez provide the driving force of the story, their uncomfortable relationship and very different motivations providing an instant air of tension on top of the ever-present threat of death-by-zombie. The uneasy understanding they forge between them gradually – and interestingly – evolves over the course of the book, even if there maybe isn’t room for them to develop much as individual characters, but zombologist Kahwihta (along with Attila, her dog) steals the show with her constant fascination with studying zombie behaviour. She adds a younger, less worldly perspective to events, and her observations of the zombies help to elevate the walking dead to something much more dangerous than simply an endless horde of identically shambling horrors. The zombies aren’t the only danger facing the characters (a few human adversaries provide welcome additional challenges) but in their behavioural and physical varieties – from speedy runners to terrifying brutes, and more – they prove genuinely threatening, as Reynolds ably demonstrates across a series of inventive set pieces.

Zombies aside, there’s an engaging, albeit bleak, sense of despair running throughout the story, as the surviving humans increasingly worry about how long they’re going to be able to last – with supplies running low and little hope of rebuilding any sort of infrastructure in the face of apparently inexhaustible numbers of the undead. Any victory risks feeling pyrrhic, and the way Reynolds balances the competing demands of hope and despair is a big part of the book’s success. All told this leans heavily towards the action end of the horror spectrum, as a fast-paced adventure packed with excitement and danger that delivers lashings of undead gore without ever getting too gruesome. That might not suit hardcore zombie fans looking for a graphic gore-fest, but should provide a broader appeal – irrespective of readers’ familiarity with Zombicide as a setting – for casual fans of zombie stories and Reynolds’ always-entertaining writing alike.

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.

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.

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!

Josh Reynolds and Aconyte books has yet to disappoint, and Zombicide Last Resort is no different. A perfect blend of chaotic thriller and zombie filled humor brought to you from the author of Wrath of N'Kai.
Last Resort brings you along on an over the top adventure as a group of survivors look for a rumored safe haven. Along the ride you meet Walkers, Runners, Fatties, and a variety of other elements from the board game that makes you feel as if you're playing along as you read. The multitude of situations the survivors find themselves in will sometimes feel eerily familiar if you are a veteran of Zombicide the board game.
As fun as it is to read about our group of heroes facing off against different types of zombies (and a couple of other surprises from the game), where Last Resort really shines is the danger they face that aren't zombies. Between finding supplies, wildlife, other camps, and old acquaintances, Westlake and his friends will have their hands full.
If you're a fan of zombie shows like Z Nation, video games like Left 4 Dead, even if you've never played the Zombicide board game, you'll find something to enjoy in this fun romp through the zombie apocalypse.