Undead Ultra

By: Camille Picott

Narrated by: Gwendolyn Druyor

Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

Undead: a reanimated corpse with a craving for human flesh.

Ultramarathon: any footrace longer than a traditional marathon (26.2 miles).

For ultrarunners Kate and Frederico, a typical Saturday morning is spent pounding out a 20 to 30-mile "fun run." It's during one of their runs that an insidious illness descends upon northern California, turning humans into flesh-shredding zombies.

When Kate receives a desperate call from her son, Carter, she and Frederico flee their hometown and set out to help him. The only problem? Carter attends college over 200 miles away and the freeways - clogged with car wrecks, zombies, and government blockades - are impassable. Running back roads and railroad tracks becomes their only means of travel, but neither of them has ever run so far before.

As pain, injuries, hunger, and fatigue plague them, getting to Carter and staying alive seem impossible. It's either outrun the undead or become one of them, and for Kate, death is not an option.

©2016 Camille Picott (P)2016 Camille Picott

I remember when....

It feels like 80% of this story is told as "I remember when" stories that really only contribute to character development, so in that sense, I would say it's a bit overdone. Bonus point for having the characters run through the zombie apocalypse, literally on foot. But otherwise, I would say it's pretty average.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Strength and perseverance!

Kate, aka Jackalope, and Frederico are ultra-runners; they relish torturing their bodies in foot races over twenty miles, hence ultra-races. A virus sets California on its ear turning people into zombie-like creatures. Kate’s son is at college and in danger 200 miles away! Transportation is out of the question due to the chaos. Kate and Frederico decide to run the 200 miles. This is really a story of strength and perseverance. You learn much about the characters and what makes them tick. The author is a runner herself, which makes me wonder how much of the tale is from personal history. Will Kate and Frederico survive the journey? What of her son; will he be safe, still waiting for them? Undead Ultra is a good story and an easy recommendation. This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Endlessly Running

There is a lot of running in this book. Running seems to be a way of life for the author and the fusion of her hobby and zombies is the result. I'm not so sure it works well.
The book is well written, the story generally good except for the over the top constant barrage of running comments, flashbacks, references and challenges.
The premise that being in a vehicle is more dangerous than running is questionable as well. Yes, they will come to the noise, but you can leave them far behind unless you get trapped.
Oh well, it is entertaining and suspending disbelief is necessary for the genre anyway.
The book is well narrarted by Gwendolyn Druyor.
I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Undead ultra

The author did a great job combining the two concepts without getting down the story. I enjoyed the characters and thought it was a great idea to insert a typical suburban mom into a zombie apocalypse story . Very entertaining.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Different Strategy

I liked Undead Ultra.The author took a different strategy in surviving the zombie outbreak. Instead of finding a crew, ammo, and a safe place to hunker down, the main character just goes for it and runs around the drama. The main character is reflective, self-aware, honest, and likable. This book doesn't follow the typical zombie narrative, but it didn't go so far outside of it that it wasn't believable.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Brilliant!

You go out for a short 20 odd mile jog and the Zombie apocalypse happens, go figure!! I reckon if I went for a "short" jog then I'd be the Zombie when I cam back ;) Anyway, a 20 to 30 mile jog is nothing to best friends Kate and Frederico yet they don't realise that this fun run today is going to change their lives forever! On the way home from their run they stop to get something to eat, to replenish lost calories when Kate sees some missed calls from her son, she listens to the voice mail where Carter tells her to get straight home and stop for nothing. She finds this odd and tries to call him but before she does, she sees someone being attacked, and what looks like, being eaten. Suitable freaked out, she rings Carter and what he tells her, and what she sees, makes her realise that her and Frederica need to get to their kids ASAP. Cars aren't a viable option since they seem to draw the Zombies, they decide to do the mother of all Ultra Marathons and run to their kids. What follows is their incredible journey!

OK, not being a runner, I found the idea of Ultra Marathons absolutely fascinating. The fact that people put themselves and their bodies through that was shocking!! The authors descriptions of what happens to them and what they go through was so real that I winced a lot!!

Being a mom, I know I would rip the world apart to get to my boys if they need me, so it's no stretch of the imagination to think that someone would run to their child if it was the only way. You can then just imagine what they have to get through on foot! Apart from the obvious Zombies, they have to deal with lack of food (which they need a lot of, what with the running and everything) lack of hydration, too many blisters etc due to the running, and worst of all, people!! All of this was exceptionally well developed and written, so many times I could feel the pain of the characters, both physically and emotionally, that it shows the author did her homework!!

In all, this was such an awesome read. I loved absolutely everything about it, from it's unique method of transport ;), to it's brilliantly written plot, this is a must read. I've read some of this authors previous work and this one just makes me love her writing style more. I highly recommend you check this book out!!!

I listened to the audio of this and am so glad I did as Gwendolyn Druyor did a great job with the narration. She was clear and concise, her inflections were spot on and she had enough different tones to make each character her own. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio and found it really brought the story to life.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Interesting take on staying ahead of the zombies

Overall this was a pretty good story. It has all of the ingredients to make a zombie story - some exciting fight scenes, raw emotions and a little gore. It was full of relentless running which I know is the premise of this story, but I can't imagine being able to outrun every obstacle placed before you just by running away. There were some scenes that felt unresolved which left me wondering why it was even in the story (hint - the whole business with the collars). The narrator did a fine job keeping the pace of the story as well as giving voice to the different characters. As far as zombie stories go this is not on the top of my list but as far as a regular story goes I did actually enjoy it.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

UNDEAD ULTRA ROCKS!

Sheesh, can't even go out for a jog anymore without it being the end of the world! ;)

I applaud any ultra-runner. I'm not even an ultra-walker. Maybe ultra-crawling, but hey now that's just plain weird :-P
But they're going to need to haul A$$. Out for a run, jogging buddies Kate and Frederico find out the world has literally just gone to hell. And Kate's son needs her and is freaking 200 miles away!

As you might imagine, traffic is a total bitch and the only option is to RUN. Anyone can siphon some gas and hot-wire a Ford, but damn to run the whole way is just plain badazz!
But, when something like this happens, getting to your kid is all that matters. You'll do anything.

Great audiobook! Loved the writing/story, and narration was awesome :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful

A decent addition to the ZA genre

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

As someone who isn't a runner, I was a bit apathetic on the ultra running bit. There was a lot of flashbacks, which started to make the story drag a bit after a while. That being said, it was still an entertaining book. The narration is pretty good and was what kept me going. All in all, I think it is a decent addition to the zombie apocalypse genre. I'd even be willing to continue the story with a sequal if one were to be released.

Tremendous story

This is the first book by Camille Picott that I have listened to. Top-shelf writing in it's genre. I have listened/read many in this genre, and this is a great addition. I recommend this book without reservations. Now for the obligatory: "I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

If I got eaten by a zombie in the next 30 seconds.

Kate is a runner, both physically - she has taken part in numerous ultras (races longer than a marathon) in the past but not since the death of her husband - and psychologically, blaming herself for being weak, especially for not being there to prevent Kyle's death and for falling apart afterwards.
Her only son, Carter, is 200 miles away at college and Kate is running with her best friend and racing partner when several texts and unanswered calls come from Carter asking her to call him urgently. An outbreak of some kind was causing riots, people were dying and the authorities had instituted what was, in effect marshal law in the areas and he and his fellow students were confined to their rooms. Kate and her friend Frederico have already seen why - the zombie apocalypse had begun!
She determines that she must be with her son so, denied the usual plane, train or automobile means of travel, she and Frederico decide simply to go by foot, to run.

Written in the first person, this was a fascinating story from Jane's perspective: her internal past life and emotions unfolding at the same time as the couple face the hardship of the journey as they sought to avoid both live and undead alike who would seem to prevent them reaching their destination. The privations endured both on this journey and in recollection of past ultra races is fascinating and painful, so much revealed about the stamina and fortitude required makes this a real gem. In so many ways shocking and well delivered, the one expectation seemed to fail was the zombie aspect itself - blind and too interested in feeding on their victims, for this reader at least, the threat they posed after the initial shock appearance seemed to make them less of a threat than most. Yet within hours they seemed to have been everywhere, even in unexpected locations.

The narration by Gwendolyn Druyor was good, emotionally charged and with seperate voicings for the individual protagonists, though that used for the 20 years old son made him sound far too young. As the voice of Kate, however, Ms.Druyor was superb. The overall reading pace also seemed a tad slow but this was easily resolved by increasing playback speed to 1.25.
I had requested Undead Ultra from the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom, and was very fortunate in being freely gifted a complimentary copy. Thank you. It was an unusual and informative book, immersive with excellent character construction, .making both Kate and her friend Frederico seem very real, increasingly so as the book moves towards the dramatic conclusion. Definitely worth reading by fans of dystopian and horror genres, zombie zealots, and anyone just interested in learning more about running an ultra.

Unexpectedly loved this story

I love zombie books. I have read so many which involve special forces, groups of survivors etc. This was a bit different. Two runners running towards their children during a zombie outbreak. Loved the descriptions, the humanity the characters. Loved the facts about ultra running woven into the story. My advice would be to get by the first paragraph with the descriptions of someone suffering the effects on the bowels of eating very hot chilli and then enjoy this simple story about love and endurance with zombies thrown in