Blog Tour: Undead Ultra by Camille Picott (Review/Giveaway)

Undead Ultra
By: Camille Picott

Publication Date: April 7, 2016
Genre: Science-Fiction/Post-Apocalypse/Zombies

We’re celebrating Zombie Awareness Monthwith a mini tour of Undead Ultra by Camille Picott! Read on for details, an exclusive excerpt, and a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Synopsis

It’s life or death…

…and two hundred miles to run.

Can she survive the zombies and save her son?

When the virus hits, nobody is prepared. Society collapses and Kate’s son doesn’t have a way out of his dorm. She has to go get him, but the roads aren’t safe, and the government has blockades.

Everything is at a standstill.

It will be the race of her life.

Kate loves running. She’s gone from marathons to ultramarathons and knows what it takes to run a hundred miles at a time, but this is different.

This is twice as far as she’s ever run…

…and finding food is a problem.

Is it even possible?

You’ll love this unique take on the apocalypse because the struggle is unlike anything you’ve read before.

Add to Goodreads

Review

 Zombie apocalypse stories are a bit overused in the current landscape whether its books (or movies). However, Undead Ultra takes on a different take from the fast-paced style to taking the characters on an ultramarathon of over 200 miles for these two running best friends to rescue their kids from their different locations as they realize that cars attract too much attention and are dangerous to use in the current zombie apocalypse world that has overrun the country. Packed with a lot of unknowns and their expertise in running and the limited supplies, they go on this insane run that tests them both mentally and physically to not only survive the length of the run and weather but also their biggest unknown factors, zombies.

There’s a lot to love about Undead Ultra. The execution of the whole story is done incredibly well. It balances the zombie threat in a myriad of different encounters as well as the limited amount of people they meet on this run, some good and some bad as well as sharing their own darker stories with each other that they may not have shared previously. At the same time, they strategize on supplies and the different phases that they go through during this ultramarathon, probably something that not a whole lot of people are incredibly familiar with in the first place. The zombie element brings in the bad ass character elements and builds the two characters as they harden to having to fight them. The story element gives both characters a lot of insight on their past and builds them up so that the readers can know them more and connect with them. The last element of ultramarathon is simply a survival element. Its both strategy as well as survival and sheds some light on the whole concept of ultramarathon and how tough it is and the mental exercise it really is. All of these balance well together to put together this thrilling run.

Undead Ultra features primarily the two characters, Kate and Frederico. Kate wants to go find her son Carter at his unversity where she has news and communication that he is still managing to stay alive but danger is moving closer and closer. She is the main voice of the story. However, her running companion and best friend Frederico is something of a rock and has his own hardships which include some alcohol abuse and trying to find his daughter on the way as well. These two characters have a lot of depth to them as the story unfolds further with each of their conversations and especially Kate’s memories of the past as well as Frederico’s recounts of his past. As they go through their ordeals, their characters build with the knowledge of their past as well as their present actions and decisions.

There’s a lot to love about Undead Ultra. Its a fun read and a page-turner. Its incredibly well-executed and has well-developed characters as well. While the zombie apocalypse landscape might seem familiar and there isn’t a lot to change about it, somehow the execution of sending the characters on foot for an ultramarathon-esque rescue mission is one that sounds crazy but makes all the difference in making this story stand out.

Goodreads Score: 5/5

Purchase Links

Amazon
UBL
Audible

About the Author

Camille Picott has been writing Stories from the End of the World since she figured out how to turn on her family’s Apple IIe computer and wrangle a floppy disk into the drive. She loves nothing more than penning an epic action scene or pushing a character to his limits.

When Camille isn’t writing or spending time with her family, she loves to run absurdly long distances. It’s not unusual to find her hitting the trail in her running shoes long before the sun rises or cranking out miles (and stories!) on her treadmill desk. She considers sleep optional and largely overrated.

Visit Camille at www.camillepicott.com to sign up for her newsletter.

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Giveaway: $5 Amazon GC

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Blog Tour Schedule

May 11th

Backshelf Books (Review) https://backshelfbooks.com/
Banshee Irish Horror Blog (Review) www.bansheeirishhorrorblog.com

May 12th

Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com
Tranquil Dreams (Review) https://klling.wordpress.com/

May 13th

Misty’s Book Space (Review) http://mistysbookspace.wordpress.com

May 14th

Cup of Books Blog (Review) https://cupofbooksblog.wordpress.com/
J Bronder Book Reviews (Review) https://jbronderbookreviews.com/

May 15th

Gemma’s Book Reviews (Review) http://www.gemmmasbookreviews.wordpress.com Read and Reviewed (Review) http://readandreviews.blogspot.com/
Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/

Blog Tour Organized by:

R&R Book Tours

The Last Orphans (The Last Orphans #1) by N.W. Harris

We’re changing the pace for a moment for a book and switching to a post-apocalyptic series.  I think it was think to change the pace a little from those cheesy and steamy stories.  Some had their merit but I wanted to go back and read some YA novels to just take a little break.  Digging through my Kindle books, I found this one called The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris.  This series, to date, as three novels.  Whether its ended or not, I don’t know because I haven’t done more research yet. Still, it looks promising.

The Last Orphans (The Last Orphans #1)
By: N.W. Harris

The Last Orphans is about the end of the world where all the adults has been murdered in one way or another. Left behind are the children who curiously are immune to whatever is going on.  We zoom in to sixteen-year-old Shane Tucker who encounters this while coming home from a funeral and wanting to save his aunt but realizing there was nothing he could do to stop whatever was going on.  As he escapes to find other people, he encounters his high school crush, Kelly and her younger sister who is also left alone traumatically. Together they meet others teens and kids and he becomes the leader as they figure out their next steps.  Their first was to slowly discover what was going on together and then find safety. Step by step their discoveries lead to them realizing that they were not spared but rather the next victims.

I’m sorry for my bad attempt at synopsis but the Goodreads one was way too long to put in here. Still, the idea of The Last Orphans is there and it leaves some room for you to discover the novel if you want to check it out.  The Last Orphans was quite a thrilling read.  It did a decent job and made a very good effort with some fun ideas for an apocalypse. The fact is, a world without adults, while we sometimes might wish it away when we were younger, also is one that is hard to imagine.  The decisions are tough and stepping up is hard.  Its emphasizes on responsibility and safety.  The Last Orphans does a good job at looking into the teens that take in their crew.  It has a balance of characters from strong-headed to weak-willed but they also leave enough space for them to grow logically in a situation like this.  Fact is, in a world without adults, there will still be bullies and people who want to take advantage of the situation in a stupid and non-beneficial way.  There will be kids who want to just protect their own and do what they need.  And most of all, everyone wants to have their own turf and have their own societies.  They are left to build up from scratch again and grow up in an instant.

The Last Orphans is also nice because its rather well-crafted. The story itself takes a unique path but it also carries a reality that we can believe.  The apocalypse holds some rather disturbing descriptions of the outcome of the adults.  There is gore and action wrapped together and it didn’t need zombies to do it. The new world that the orphans are now a part of is a place they are exploring and its a whole new universe that we also willingly jump into this dangerous adventure with.  They are smart but they also need each other.  Friendships build and relationships form, even if they sometimes are a little predictable, it still merits some happy moments because the characters are developed well and rather likeable.

The Last Orphans is a great YA apocalyptic novel.  It draws out unique turn of events that has enough threat to make it intriguing to read even if some parts give it a level of predictability. However, it has likeable characters and well-developed characters that set up a good stage as the first book of the series. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Have you read The Last Orphans?

1UP Box: February Unboxing! :)

We’re back with another unboxing!

Last time, I posted a video of the January unboxing of Arcade Block. It had a ton of cute and fun goodies and they are now placed around my house and whatnot.  While I really wanted to check out the Arcade Block, I was desperately waiting for the 1UP box to be available for shipping in Canada.

I’m new to this funky surprise box business and what I’ve learned is that they only started in September 2014 so I’m pretty glad that I signed up in late December and go the notice a few weeks ago that they had shipping to Canada starting with their February box.  1UP box is one of the more economical surprise box choices especially if you’re in the US. Canada subscription includes shipping so the higher price makes sense to me.

Long story cut short (not really) Signed up and got the box on Friday.

We’ve been in a snowstorm and whatnot for the last few days so I didn’t end up going to grab my package and open it with my boyfriend.  Earlier this afternoon, we did do it.  Unlike last time, we decided to do snapshots of the items instead.  We’ll probably fluctuate between snapshots and videos.

I’m talking too much! Here it is! By the way, February’s theme was Apocalypse!

Mushroom sours = 100 HP for survival!

Mushroom sours

Zombie Strike Global Outbreak Stress Ball

Zombie Anti-virus Hand Sanitizer

Zelda stickers

Wind up Walking Dead Collectible: Rick

Super Cross Bros T-Shirt

1UP Box February Pin!

Here we go! February’s 1UP Box! I haven’t gotten into The Walking Dead hype so my boyfriend was more of the connoisseur here.  But, I love Mario related stuff so yay the Mushroom! February was Apocalypse theme.  I wonder what March’s theme will be…

As usual, it was really fun! Maybe you can tell me if you’d prefer the unboxing in a video instead. You know, vlog style? I’m going to keep doing these because I personally find it pretty fun and refreshing.  Its a change of pace.

I’m going to end this here. Time to get ready to gear up for sitting in front of the TV for Oscars.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Stay awesome! 🙂