The End of Times Series by Nate Johnson

The End of Times Series is by independent author, Nate Johnson.  The series was published beginning in 2023.

1.  Impact, 2023
2.  Escape, 2024
3.  Endure, 2024
4.  Quest, 2024
5.  Justice, to be published in 2025

Book 1 summary:

It really is the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Death, Famine, War, and Conquest.  Things a seventeen-year-old boy shouldn't have to deal with.

In those most infamous words, mistakes were made.  It wasn't supposed to happen. The asteroid was supposed to miss.  Running for their lives, Ryan Conrad and Kelsey Morgan race to escape the impact of a super asteroid and the apocalyptic world it left behind.  Fighting to survive the aftershocks.  The earthquake to end all earthquakes, the largest tsunami in human history, and worst of all, the EMP and loss of civilization.

Ryan must lead a ragtag group of people from Seattle to the safety of his grandfather's farm in northern Idaho.  Unfortunately, it seems as if fate is aligned against them.  Constantly putting every obstacle in their path.  Laying every trap, as if this new dystopian world was designed to kill them.

To top it off, he’s stuck with young kids depending upon him, a girl out of his league, and knowledge that one mistake and they all die.

Each subsequent book in this series features another member of Ryan's family heading for his grandfather's farm, each of them with a new acquaintance from the opposite sex.  The summaries of the subsequent books do not spoil the first book or any of the other books. 

Book 2 summary: 

It is a known fact.  Being in New York City at the end of the world is not the best.  There is only one solution.  ESCAPE.

When Haley Conrad was informed an asteroid is going to impact the earth, leading to the world's end, she knew her only chance of surviving was to escape New York before it became hell on earth.  But making it all the way across the country wasn't going to be easy.

Thankfully, Tanner Parks might be the perfect solution, part bodyguard and all monster.  He was just the type of boy that could keep a girl alive long enough to make it to the safety of the Idaho mountains.

Two young people following the ancient migrants trail.  Two people fighting to survive in this new world with new rules and more monsters than anyone could ever know.

Book 3 summary:

Chase Conrad didn't get along with people.  But that didn't mean he wanted the world to end.  Not like this.

High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, he receives a call that an asteroid is going to wipe out civilization.  Not something you hear every day.  Torn between hiding out in the mountains and returning to the family farm in Northern Idaho, Chase choses home.  His sister and cousins will need him.  Unfortunately, three young people and a trial of endurance interfere with his plans.

Meagan Foster never expected the world to end.  Earthquakes, Volcanoes, EMPs.  Oh yeah, starvation.  None of it was expected.

Forced to make a choice, stay and fight the mobs tearing the city apart or the long desert road, one thing was obvious: the only chance she and her two younger brothers had was this strange boy walking out of the mountains.  Four young people must fight the desert, natural disasters, and what used to be left of civilization to reach safety.

Book 4 summary:

Cassie Conrad knew life was unfair, but she never thought the universe could be this cruel.  Informed by her father that the world is going to end, she is torn between staying with her friend Sara or trekking across the country to the family’s farm in Idaho.

Everything she thought she knew is put to the test.  Everything she valued has been taken from her.

Jake Thompson never anticipated an asteroid ushering in a post-apocalyptic world.  Left in charge of his sister Sara, and her friend Cassie, he must keep them alive as the world turns to hell in a handbasket around them.  Unfortunately, he is not surprised to discover just how fast the law of the jungle has returned full force.  Kill or be killed.

There is no one to go to for help.  No authority worth trusting.  Alone, these three young people face a new dystopian world filled with starving people desperate to take what they need.

I will get the only negative out of the way first.  These books have quite a few homonym and punctuation errors as well as randomly capitalized words.  At times, this is distracting.  However, these books are so compelling and so very good that I didn't care.

Nate Johnson tells really great stories.  The books are effortless to read.  He is low on description and includes no unnecessary information—no sidetracking into pointless, boring stuff.  Each story sprints forward from the very first page.  He is very high on characterization and effortlessly manages to gain the reader's interest.  I immediately cared about the characters and found every book to be compelling.

The stories are repetitive, but I like that.  I'm a series fan, and it's great fun reading through a set where every installment gives me a variation of what I read in the previous book.  This series does exactly that.  If you like the first book, then you'll like all of them.

Each book features a character from the Conrad family who receives a call from their father/uncle telling them that an asteroid will hit in minutes.  Each person grabs their things and takes off for the family farm in Idaho.  As each character heads on their journey, they acquire a traveling companion from the opposite sex.  The two characters inevitably begin to have feelings for each other, while hiding their feelings from each other and thinking that the other doesn't care.  

The books are unrealistic in some ways, but these kinds of books always are.  I didn't mind that, since I thoroughly enjoyed reading the books.

I love these books.  They are great reading.  If you love apocalyptic teen fiction with a hint of romance and a good dose of danger without any gore, then you'll love these books.