Paul Is Undead

The British Zombie Invasion

By: Alan Goldsher

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to really meet the Beatles. This is a delightfully gory retelling of the Beatles’ U.S. tour that reimagines the Liverpool foursome as bloodthirsty zombies who take over the world…literally!

For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.

In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger.

Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever.

©2010 Alan Goldsher (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Goldsher turns in a classic rags-to-riches tale of aspiration and success that would do Horatio Alger proud, punctuated by no end of gore.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Roughly paralleling the real-world career of the Beatles, this alternate history reimagines successes, failures, and rivalries with over-the-top bizarro charm." ( Publishers Weekly)

loved this book! really funny :-)

Well the story of Paul's death is partly true anyway.
This book is really funny and one may consider it a partial explanation of some of the comments made by John Lennon & maybe even the female fan hysteria.
I think the voice imperonations of Simon Vance got a little sloppy at times but for the most part they were undead on. Switching between the different dialets in England (Liverpudlian and London for example) at such a speed as Simon did, would be very hard.
While this is not a book that requires alot of contemplation afterwards; for entertainment value, it has my undead vote and give it two thumbs up! (Although my thumbs fell off last week,I did find the right but not the left as of this writing),

Amazing Performance By Simon Vance

What did you love best about Paul Is Undead?

It was just a lot of fun to listen to. I laughed out loud many times, which is something that doesn't happen often for me, even if it is a funny book. Not sure why the other critics have been so harsh or what they were expecting from a book about a zombie rock band. Very entertaining if you need an escape from the real world for a little while.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Don't know if I had a favorite character but I can say I laughed the hardest at some of the things the Queen of England said and when he interviewed Jesus.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

In my opinion, Simon Vance was amazing. Listening to the story with all the different voices and characterizations is what made the absurdity of the plot okay. I don't think I would have enjoyed it half as much if I had just read the printed book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

All You Need Is Love... And a Supply of Delicious Brains.

Any additional comments?

If you are a Beatles fan and you start listening to this book with the right expectations and accepting it for what it is, I think you will enjoy it.

Stinks like feet!

What would have made Paul Is Undead better?

It would have been a good short story. As a longer work it was repetitive and juvenile and tiresome. Are all zombie books like this?

Would you ever listen to anything by Alan Goldsher again?

Maybe. Something not about zombies.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Very versitile: lots of voices, lots of accents.

What character would you cut from Paul Is Undead?

Everyone but Ringo.

Any additional comments?

Stay away!

The Much, Much, MUCH more long and winding road

Would you try another book from Alan Goldsher and/or Simon Vance?

I'm not sure. It would depend what it was about.

What could Alan Goldsher have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

He could have told his story in half the time; it was much too long.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Simon Vance?

One of the Beatles would have been nice...since that's not likely to happen, maybe Harry Shearer or Michael McKean--they did such a good job with their satire of the heavy metal music business, Spinal tap. Their put-on accents were very good.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

The beginning of the book i found very funny. It was such a unique idea that i was very interested....however, it dragged so much after a while that I began to hate the whole premise and felt I'd never want to read anything about the Beatles again....or zombies.

Any additional comments?

Not worth the cost of the audiobook.

Not funny and horrible

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

look somewhere else...This make believe story is not at all what I was expecting. I thought it was about all of the clues concerning Pau's supposed death in 1966. Instead it's totally fiction.

Has Paul Is Undead turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Simon Vance?

Not sure

What character would you cut from Paul Is Undead?

The author...