A deadly pandemic strikes the world and within days ninety-nine percent of the human population is gone. The survivors all gained a super-human talent in the process but half of them are violent lunatics. The Savage North Chronicles, beginning with The Darkest Winter, follows a small band of survivors from Anchorage, Alaska as they struggle through the outbreak in December and the chaos that follows. In addition to the craziness of a civilization ending apocalypse, there are wilder elements as well, including super human abilities and military scientists who wipe memories and resurrect the dead. The survivors include Elle, who is a cruise ship photographer who wakes up after falling sick and immediately discovers that she can defend herself by summoning fire, and Jackson, who is a state trooper who's pregnant wife is killed by an intruder. Together with four children Elle picked up the group follows Jackson's intuition and sets off for Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Its a mix of The Walking Dead series, a survival game called The Long Dark, and a lot of conspiracy theories. 

This is a companion series to The Ending and reading those books first might remove the disappointment of this series not addressing the origins of the virus. The how and why of the virus are discussed in this series but the fear and preparation for dealing with that situation ends suddenly with a report that it is over. While it is logical that a threat could be eliminated by someone else, the anticlimactic resolution midway through a book feels odd. The Darkest Winter has a swift pace aided by skipping forward in time as needed until ending with learning the truth behind the virus. Book two, Midnight Sun, has less action and spends more time on character development as they are learning to use their new talents. Most of the super human abilities are mental, but a few are physical, such as enhanced strength or manipulating elements like Elle's fire. 

Overall, the writing is good. No particular aspect of the world or plot is completely original but all together they create a fresh story. The audiobooks use two narrators because the PoV flips between Elle and Jackson in the first book and then adds the two eighteen year olds, Alex and Sophie. The first omnibus volume includes The Darkest Night, then The Longest Night which is a prequel novella about Sophie meeting Alex, and Midnight Sun.