Protected by the Alien Raider

Turochs of Earth #4

by Reba Max

Carn has spent the last decade of his life as a syto experiment. He's been altered, enhanced and trained beyond anything his turoch DNA ever intended, and lost his mind in the process. He's famous for his brutal gladiatorial fights, it wasn't uncommon for his opponents to take their own lives to avoid facing him.

He was a monster, a rage-fueled killing machine.

And then a human female dropped out of the ceiling and into his cell.

Genres: Monsters

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 3, 2024

Reviews

[Tima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naomi, the female human lead, lost part of one leg after a car accident and she knows she’s had bad days before but none quite so bad as when she wakes up abducted on an alien spaceship to find aliens demanding the humans all strip, including her prosthetic. A survivor, she manages to escape into the vents and, very fortunately, finds Carn, the male Turoch (a different alien species) gladiator lead, trapped in a cell. Desperate for food and water, she attempts to sneak into his cell, only to find him capturing her, then keeping her as a teddy bear. Carn only knows that the female has brought him back to his senses after the drugged fog his captors have kept him in.

After Carn is able to secure a translator for Naomi, they need to work out an escape plan, execute it to get back to Earth, then convince Carn’s people not to kill him even though he killed many of them in gladiatorial contests whilst drugged…

This story is dual POV, well written, and a steamy, sci fi, dystopian romance that finishes a story arc for this series. I enjoyed Naomi’s grit and her determination to survive. I enjoyed Carn’s willingness to fight for his sanity and to sacrifice whatever he needed to for Naomi’s survival. I appreciated the integrated secondary characters and the contrast of one of the aliens compared to Carn in his people’s eyes. I enjoyed the relationship development, particularly the intimacy, and the genuineness of their intimate moments and development. I enjoyed the resolution of the overarching plot and the cameos from previous characters in the series. I’m looking forward to more from this author.

I received a complimentary copy from the author and this is my voluntary honest review.

[Pamela Schalk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

A human female is captured by the blue aliens along with a large number of other humans. She manages to escape from the holding room by climbing up into the ventilation system. She eventually comes across a cell holding a very large red alien and spots a tray of untouched food in the cell. Thirst and hunger drives her to climb down into the cell. You will have to read the book to find out what all happens once she is in the cell. Lots of fighting, escapes, twists and turns to learn about.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reminds me of Prison Planet Barbarian and I like both for the trope of bloodthirsty guy who’s only soft for his woman, plus he falls first.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine, but it fell short in basically every area. The characters were fine, but could have been better. The book spends a lot of time on them in the cell together, but they don’t really develop their relationship that well. Character growth was meh. The plot was fine, but had weird pacing. The ending was actually bad IMO. It’s not really a happily ever after since Carn isn’t accepted by the group. They’re happy together, but not with the others. Then they talk about mating for life, but another guy hits on her. It’s just inconsistent and weird.

The steam wasn’t great. They have a really disastrous first time (even if you’re a virgin you should know you can’t just shove it in). They supposedly get better after that, but any remaining scenes are skipped over or very brief. They keep going at it in semi-public places too which seems weird for the two virgins who consider sex to be mating for life.

This book has had several inconsistencies that were really bothering me. These aren’t big spoilers but throwing the tag in to be sure. When she first drops in she asks him questions. He answers with a nod and brings her food. Then a chapter or two later she’s like “he must not understand me.” He thinks “she must think I don’t understand her.” Then they communicate again. At one point he says he’s only been in that cell for a month and at other points they say it’s been years. (He’s been kidnapped for years, but not in this ship.) Her timelines often didn’t make sense too. She’s like oh I was inside on Earth so long Idk if it’s even there, but at another point she says two months ago I would have been walking home from work. Info he could vs could not remember about his planet didn’t make sense. Nothing big, but enough things that it kept pulling me out of the story. It wasn’t well written or cohesive.

It’s a pretty quick read. I wanted to like it the “undesirable hero” trope is one of my favorites, plus the captivity, dual virgins… so many pieces are normally what I like to gobble up like popcorn. But this one didn’t work for me.

[Karen Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not judge a being by its looks.

Ran into claimed by the alien raider . Once I completed it, I read the next 3 books and the prequel in a smidgen less than 4 days. Love the characters and development of the story. I am glad/ sad that I am at the end of Ms. Max's phase one in this series. I am looking forward hopefully to phase two being out really really soon!!
In a nut shell, this series is blessed with a fantastic storyline, intriguing characters, a good moderately fast-paced with fantastic character development. Enjoyed the side comparisons of the different civilization developments between the turochs, the humans, and the sytl. Also, the differences between mate/ spouse selection and raising young. The sytls gets a BIG F there. These books are worth buying, but if you are in doubt, borrow one from the library or Kindle unlimited.