Audio Book Review: The Darkest Winter, Savage North Chronicles, Book 1, by Lindsey Pogue

I liked the supernatural element that added to this post-apocalyptic survival story.

The Darkest Winter
A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure
Savage North Chronicles
Written by Lindsey Pogue
Narrated by Sarah Ruth Thomas & Luis Bermudez

Run Time 15h
Release Date: October 8, 2020
Publisher: Lindsey Pogue
Genre: Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.

Publisher Description
The Virus spread. Billions died. The Ending began.
A group of orphaned misfits.
The wildlands of the last frontier.
Superhuman abilities, harrowing adventures, and heartbreaking secrets.
Elle - Haunting shadows are nothing new to Elle St. James, she’s been running from them all her life. But since the outbreak spread from the lower forty-eight, new monsters lurk in the darkness. After Elle wakes from the fever, capable of horrific deeds, she fears she’s one of them. When she stumbles upon four orphans, Elle’s forced to discover what happens when her greatest fear becomes her darkest secret and her only hope of surviving.
Jackson - After the world goes mad and takes his family with it, Jackson Mitchell tosses aside his badge and decides a bottle of bourbon and the depths of despair are preferable to any semblance of living. All of that changes, however, when a group of young survivors are in dire need of his help and Jackson sacrifices his blissful oblivion in order to keep them safe. As they trek further away from the collapsing cities, Jackson must rely on his knowledge of the backcountry and the traditions of his people, or succumb to the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness.
Brought together under the worst possible circumstances, Elle and Jackson must face the inexplicable realities of the new world. Their past lives are over, and the arctic isn’t all that’s savage anymore.

Review:
A virus has killed Billions. But some survived. Of those who survived the fevers, some are realizing they have unusual, super human abilities. Elle is one of these. She set off to find her sister but instead she stumbles upon four orphans struggling to survive the trauma of losing everyone around them. Elle feels compelled to be the adult who must step up to help them. But she needs to protect them from her own secret.

Jackson has lost his wife and unborn child not to the virus but to a crazed intruder. His initial reaction is to drown his sorrows in a bourbon bottle. He finds his friend and begins to come back to life. He is intent on meeting his friend at a designated point, but along the way he finds Elle and her young charges. Reluctantly he realizes he must help them if they are to survive. He agrees to escort them, at least part of the way, sharing his survival knowledge with them.

Elle and Jackson had no intent to seek a relationship but it is hard to avoid when they find themselves thrown together trying to protect a small group of survivors. Elle learns that others have new abilities and that she may have to rely on her own ‘powers’ to fight back. How will her charges and Jackson react when they see her powers in use?

I liked the different personalities of the main and minor characters. They also get aid from a family in the wilderness that lives totally off the grid that gives a new perspective to the dangers of society. I felt there were areas of unrealism in the travels but it was overall a good story. I recommend this to fans of post-apocalyptic who would also like the paranormal elements.

Audio Notes: This is a story where dual narration worked well. Sarah Ruth Thomas & Luis Bermudez did a good job with the female and male voices. They both delivered distinct character voices and appropriate emotional energy. I enjoyed the audio entertainment.

Source: April 18, 2021 purchased at Chirp for $3.99. This qualifies for 2023TBR, 2023Audiobook, and 2023Season goals.

Audible Book Review: After the Ending by Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue

 This is a bit on the teen angsty side for me but the post-apocalyptic story had some interest as survivors developed supernatural abilities.

After The Ending
The Ending Series, #1
By: Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue
Narrated by: Natalie Duke

Series: The Ending Series, Book 1
Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
Release date: 04-25-14 Publisher: L2 Books
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Sci Fi
My Rating: 3.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.5; Narration 3.75.

Publisher's Summary
The best-selling first audiobook in the emotionally charged post-apocalyptic romance series, The Ending Series.
The virus spread. Billions died. The ending began. We may have survived the apocalypse, but the virus changed us.
When people started getting sick, they thought it was just the flu. My roommate, my boyfriend, my family ...they're all gone now. I got sick too. I should have died with them - with the rest of the world - but I didn't. I thought witnessing the human population almost disappear off the face of the earth was the craziest thing I'd ever experience. I was so wrong. My name is Dani O'Connor, I'm twenty-six-years-old, and I survived the ending.
The virus changed everything. The world I knew is gone, and life is backwards. We've all had to start over. I've been stripped of my home, my dreams ...all that is me. I'm someone else now-broken and changed. Other survivors' memories and emotions haunt me. They invade my mind until I can no longer separate them from my own. I won't let them consume me. I can't. My name is Zoe Cartwright, I'm twenty-six-years-old, and I survived the ending.
We've been inseparable for most of our lives, and now our friendship is all we have left. The aftermath of the virus has stranded us on opposite sides of the United States. Trusting strangers, making sacrifices, killing - we'll do anything to reach one another. Fear and pain may be unavoidable, but we're strong ...we're survivors. But to continue surviving in this unfamiliar world plagued by crazies and strange new abilities, we have to adapt. We have to evolve.
And more than anything, we have to find each other.
This audiobook contains some adult content and language.

Review:
Dani and Zoe are in their mid-twenties and best of friends separated across the country when billions die from a rapid virus. They are able to determine they are both alive because they can communicate by email. Dani’s boyfriend died and she is devastated…at least until Zoe’s older brother, Jason, arrives to rescue her.

Zoe gathers a group of friends to head west to meet up with her brother while he has a handful of young men and women traveling to a place they believe will be safe. Along the way the separate groups run into hostile forces who want to control where they can go and what they can do.

The young people who have survived seem to be obsessed with sex. I struggled along in the teen angst because at mid-point it became clear that several of the survivors were developing unique powers. Although the abilities may be helpful, they soon are considered freaks who are a threat to others.

I felt the characters were shallow and not well developed, other than being whiney and on the weak side. I wasn’t particularly engaged by the survival because it is overwhelmed by the drama. Over the breadth of the story a romance develops for both Dani and Zoe. This is portrayed nicely without being graphic and at least gave some favorable elements to the story. I’m not planning on continuing the series. This is a post-apocalyptic story that would be good for a younger audience and for readers who enjoy supernatural elements.

Audio Notes: Natalie Duke precisely captures the young whiny female voices. I don’t think she managed the male voices as well. Still, the narration made this longish book move along for me.

Source: April 2014 Audible Credit. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.