Natalie Zina Walschots

"Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. As a temp, she's just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called 'hero' leaves her badly injured. So, of course, then she gets laid off. With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks. Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it."--Provided by publisher.

A Novel

Hench

A smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with razor-sharp wit and affection, in which a young woman discovers the greatest superpower--for good or ill--is a properly executed spreadsheet. Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn't glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy? As a temp, she's just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called "hero" leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she's the lucky one. So, of course, then she gets laid off. With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks. Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance. It's not too long before she's employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world. A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics.

this was insane in the best way possible. a nerdy, bored data scientist gets her life rocked when she becomes handicapped by a superhero during a battle. she dedicates her life to climbing the villain corporate ladder to get revenge on superheroes and simultaneously enters into a very unusual relationship with her super villain boss. it’s fun, it’s dark, at times grotesque, but it is so refreshing. at parts, i was zoning out because it is kinda long but i still recommend it as a fun story!!! 

big ab

mixed feelings.. excellent concept but despite its length, it felt like it was being summarized at me

claire

Ryan Mateyk

This was a lot of fun. Flipping the superhero genre on its head, we’re rooting for the villains here. It reads like a movie and we’re gifted with a twisted grotesque final act that’s like a Marvel nightmare.

Janice Hopper

I went into this book a little reluctantly. My thinking was, in this current world of villains and crappy people in positions of power, why would you want to write/read a book featuring people who voluntarily ally themselves with The Bad Guys?? Even if they're just minions - computer folks, data entry operators, etc?? 

But this book is rather more than that. It takes an intelligent look at some of the tropes of the superhero/supervillain genre. And it becomes a lot more than "I wanna work for the bad guys."

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it by the end. Interesting and thought-provoking, might deserve a re-read.

"This book is fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell." --Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author The Boys meets My Year of Rest and Relaxation in this smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with razor-sharp wit and affection, in which a young woman discovers the greatest superpower--for good or ill--is a properly executed spreadsheet. Includes a bonus story for the paperback. Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn't glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy? As a temp, she's just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called "hero" leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she's the lucky one. So, of course, then she gets laid off. With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks. Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance. It's not too long before she's employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world. A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics.

mevi

TW: death, gore

This focuses on a data analyst's villain origin story. Yeah. It's like if  The Boys  was in book format.

Jill Niemeier 

I have a LOT of thoughts about this, mostly disappointed after hearing some good things. However, my petty comment is that the author *more than once* said that “it smelled of bergamot and citrus” … bergamot IS citrus. That’s like saying it smelled of roses and flowers. Anyway. Sorry for being petty! This just didn’t work for me!

Cindy Lieberman

This is a fun book about everyday people who find work with corporations run by villains. I’m not talking about Facebook or BP or Altria. Think of the Prime TV show The Boyz where superheroes are a branded and not-always-positive presence in society. If there are supes, there must be their opposite. Villains need henches to do their bookkeeping, crunch the data, arrange travel, etc. The novel Hench centers around a young woman who temps for one such villain and later gets an opportunity for full-time work (with healthcare!) for yet another, possibly more evil villain when she uncovers some irregularities on the superhero side. I quite enjoyed this quasi-sci-fi and mostly fun story of toiling for a paycheck, working with people you enjoy, and trying to make a difference.

Nicholas Hanemann

Has glimmers of genius (the final fight scenes are spectacularly raw) but is ultimately unsatisfying in any emotional sense.

Taylor

I went into this thinking that it would be nothing more than a fun read, but it actually may be one of my favourite reads of the year. 

The combination of office politics and scrambling from job to job as a temp, and the world of superheroes and villains is absolutely brilliant. I almost instantly fell in love with the protagonist, Anna, and her quest to expose the hidden damage of the world's beloved superheroes. It's gory, full of rage, and perfectly, casually queer. It's a lot darker than I thought it was going to be when I started, but I loved every second of it. This book is truly what I hoped the Amazon series The Boys could be.

TWs: gore, torture, body horror, medical experimentation, kidnapping, mutilation, sexism, slut-shaming, hospitalization, disfigurement

ghost girl in satin

(La review qui suit est un extrait d'un avis que j'ai posté sur un forum)

[...] Doooonc. J'ai lu un roman de SF avec des superhéros, mais du côté des super-vilains. Il s'agit de Hench de Natalie Zina Walschots.
Ce roman explore l'idée qu'on ne naît pas méchant (j'ai l'impression d'être en maternelle et de dire "madaaaame, machin il est méchaaaaant" quand j'emploie ce mot :lol: ), on le devient.
J'ai beaucoup aimé le concept d'une agence de sbires qui travaillent pour des super-vilains qui veulent ruiner l'image du héros ou qui organisent des trucs pas cools pour... Ben, être méchants, quoi. :mrgreen: Des jobs pas cools qui impliquent de taper des gentilles petites mamies et d'orchestrer des prises d'otages. Le ton est cynique à souhait et grinçant, c'est un régal. Par contre, beaucoup de gens disent que ce roman est "drôle" dans les reviews. Je ne sais pas si on a lu la même chose. Ce livre n'est PAS drôle. Il manie l'ironie dans le sens but de montrer que la frontière entre le bien et le mal, et la moralité et l'immoralité est fine et facilement transgressasse.
Ce que j'ai préféré, bien sûr, c'est l'analyse et l'évolution du personnage principal. Son histoire illustre parfaitement le cycle affreux de la victime qui devient l'agresseur, l'opprimé qui devient l'oppresseur. Suite à un accident (une rencontre impromptue avec un héros qui fait des dommages collatéraux en voulant sauver le monde), elle se retrouve traumatisée et gravement blessée, et décide de démontrer qu'un héros, même avec les meilleures intentions du monde, peut faire des ravages sur son passage. À partir de ce moment, on assiste littéralement à une descente aux Enfers. Notre héroïne joue sans cesse avec les concepts du Bien et du Mal. Elle interroge notre sens moral et notre désir de vengeance. Jusqu'où serait-on prêt à aller pour faire le bien ? (ou rétablir des injustices) Jusqu'à ce qu'elle n'ait plus qu'un seul mot à la bouche :



Et c'est là que nous passons tous du côté obscur de la force XD

L'histoire était donc intéressante d'un point de vue "philosophique", le personnage principal est très bien construit (et pour une fois on a une FEMME qui est "morally grey", c'est cool !) et la construction de son parcours est logique et très bien amenée. J'ai beaucoup aimé les jeux de pouvoir/politiques mis en scène. Ils n'étaient pas trop complexes (rien à voir avec The Poppy War, par exemple) mais ils servaient bien la narration. Les autres personnages sont un peu "fades" comparés à notre MC, et certains ont disparu du champ de vision un peu trop facilement à mon goût alors qu'ils soulevaient des questions intéressantes et nous donnaient une autre vision du MC. (Je pense notamment à son amie et à une agente qui pose la question des limites à ne pas dépasser : faire le mal, ok, mais jusqu'à où ? Et est-ce que c'est la même chose si je conduis moi-même les opérations visant à faire souffrir une personne ou si je l'orchestre d'un point de vue extérieur... Les petites mains sont-elles responsables ou les cerveaux sont-ils les seuls fautifs ?).
Mon seul regret : l'univers n'est pas assez développé. Parfois, j'avais juste l'impression de lire une succession de scènes d'action et de manigances diaboliques sans décors. Bon, ça passe parce que ce n'était pas la clef de l'histoire.
Et le love-interest. Non. Arrêtez. S'il vous plaît. S T O P.
Par contre, la fin : excellente.

“This book is fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell." -- Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author The Boys meets My Year of Rest and Relaxation in this smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with razor-sharp wit and affection, in which a young woman discovers the greatest superpower—for good or ill—is a properly executed spreadsheet. Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy? As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one. So, of course, then she gets laid off. With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks. Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance. It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world. A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics.

It was SO GOOD. OMG. 
The main character is amazing and a total wreck and completely mad but I LOVED HER.
And so much angst, such a good character arc omg. AND THE ENDING OMG. It was a wild ride. ♥ I'm so glad I read it!
I just wish there were a little more world-building. But I am being picky.

Charlotte Rayfield

4.5 stars. If you like supervillains and superhero’s, twenty somethings struggling, office politics or spreadsheets this is for you. ☺️ Also wonderfully, casually, queer! 🏳️‍🌈 Where is my sequel?!

I went into this thinking that it would be nothing more than a fun read, but it actually may be one of my favourite reads of the year.

The combination of office politics and scrambling from job to job as a temp, and the world of superheroes and villains is absolutely brilliant. I almost instantly fell in love with the protagonist, Anna, and her quest to expose the hidden damage of the world's beloved superheroes. It's gory, full of rage, and perfectly, casually queer. It's a lot darker than I thought it was going to be when I started, but I loved every second of it. This book is truly what I hoped the Amazon series The Boys could be.

TWs: gore, torture, body horror, medical experimentation, kidnapping, mutilation, sexism, slut-shaming, hospitalization, disfigurement

Emily C Peterson

Ben Nathan

Absolutely delightful. I could have seen this being the start of a whole series but find it much better as a standalone because of how complete it feels. So many fantastic ideas, literally. Highest of suggestions

Heather Killeen

Rating: 5/5 Heroic Henches

Format: ebook. I’d like to thank HarperCollins and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What it's like: This book reminded me a lot of the premise of the Amazon show The Boys. Revenge, the darker side of heroes and the collateral damage they inflict being the main focus.

To sum up: 
This is a story about a smart Hench woman called Anna, who primarily works behind the scenes for various villains in a world of Superheroes. She is good at numbers and usually stays away from fieldwork, until one day when she is asked to step up to the foreground during a mission that goes catastrophically wrong. During the aftermath, she finds a new purpose, in tallying the toll in human lives that heroes cause the world. Her work draws the attention of a Supervillian who employs her and that’s when her work really begins. It is a story about what truly makes a hero and what makes a villain, about recovery and finding purpose in the importance of accountability and transparency, and the everyday bravery of people behind the scenes just trying to show the world the truth. 

What I loved:
There is a lot to love in this book! It is funny, it’s grim, it’s shocking and raw, but most of all, it’s a reflection on why every person in a society, no matter their station, should be held accountable for their actions. It seems like every day we hear about another person that has done or said horrible things in the shadows. It can get exhausting, but this book reminds you that this is crucial work. Truly understanding the companies we endorse, the leaders we choose, and people we see as heroes may not always be pretty but it is vital to our democracy and our society. 

I loved that Walschots chose a main character that feels so very ordinary. She doesn’t have special powers. She isn’t rich, she isn’t particularly charismatic, she is just an ordinary person who has been hurt badly. Her journey through recovery and finding a cause worth sacrificing everything for was beautiful and inspiring. 

This book definitely makes you look at the idea of “heroes” and “villains” in a different way. It shines a heroic light on the people who attempt to find unbiased truth and share it with the world. It reminds us that we all have the ability to be heroes as well as villains. 

Overall, I don’t have anything bad to say about this book! It was fast-paced, it was emotional, brutal, and unflinchingly honest with its characters and messages. Any fans of superheroes should definitely give this a try.


Trigger warnings: 
There are some very graphic violent scenes in this book, death, and domestic abuse.

Jeremy Cote

I thought this book was quite intriguing, inverting the usual superhero dynamic. It was funny, at times a bit dark, and fast-paced. I liked the concept, but a few things didn't quite work for me. I guess I was put off by the protagonist at some points, and the whole superhero/supervillain concept is a bit underdeveloped for my liking. Still, the humour that was brought to the story was fun, so I did enjoy reading.

Hench A Novel

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