Run, Hide, Fight: Off Planet by Aileen Erin

405 Pages

 In Ms. Erin’s book, we meet Maite Martinez, a young woman who is hiding on a polluted, corporate- run earth, who is secretly half human and half Aunare, an alien species that Earth’s major corporation Space Tech views as a major threat to the planet. When a touchy-feely customer attacks her during a shift at a rundown diner, Maite fights back on instinct, blowing the cover her and her mother have maintained for over a decade.

Soon after, a man named Declan, the son of a Space Tech leader and a secret ally of Maite’s father, finally tracks her down and executes his plan to get her off earth. However, before he can follow through, Space Tech is able to fabricate evidence to frame Maite for a serious crime and is able to justify pretext to have her arrested. Instead of a normal trial, she is quietly sent to do brutal work detail on Abaddon, a volcano planet prison where prisoners face horrendous conditions, sadistic guards, and are under constant surveillance.

 While imprisoned on Abaddon, Maite is put through a physical and psychological abuse, but she is able to form alliances with fellow prisoners Tyler and Aubrey. She also encounters shady figures like Ahiga and Santiago who complicate the simple “friend vs foe” theme. As Maite struggles to survive, she begins to put the pieces together that she is being used by Space Tech as part of a larger plan to start a war with the Aunare It is a war that would devastate on a galactic scale. Her heritage and identity are Amihanna Di Aetes, and she is the heir to the powerful Aunare leader, and if something happens to her, it can be used as a action to justify war on both sides.

 This book is part of a series, and I admit I became very interested in continuing with it, but I did have some issues. On the pros side, I liked the character. She may be a hybrid of the two races, but she still operates just as a normal person would. She was initiative driven, which was a nice change instead of the oblivious protagonist we see in other stories where it takes several stories for them to achieve their skills. The characters between her allies were well presented. The supporting characters were consistent and never altered their purposes at any time.

 As for the cons, I do have a few. The pacing was inconsistent and all over the place. I was relieved to see other readers who read this agree with me. Story has structure, but its organization could be better. In fact, in the middle of the story during the prison chapters, I felt that the story had become cluttered. The antagonists were without depth or and had no development whatsoever. It almost reminded me of how the Wizard of Oz was presented. Mysterious, and lack any substance as to who this person or group was.

 Despite these complaints, I did enjoy the book and just finished its sequel “Off Balance” and will offer a review of that as well. If you are up for a Sci-fi series, I do recommend this book.