I moved this to the top of my TBR list after reading 1000Oyster’s review, with an assist from Emmalita (thank you!). I agree totally with 1000Oyster’s “I want to recommend it to everyone I know.” In fact, I sent it home with my dad to read on the plane after his Christmas visit, and he also loved it.
Plans for world domination and mass destruction take a lot of work, but who does that work? What if there were temp agencies for supervillain henchpeople and minions? You don’t have to be capital-E Evil, you just have to need a paycheck. Hench takes this idea, and the idea of the human cost of super-powered battles, on a wild and wonderful ride.
Anna starts out as a temp doing data entry for various bad guys, bouncing from job to job and trying not to lose her apartment. When a fight between her current boss and Supercollider (the Homelander of the story) gets a little too up close and personal, she ends up convalescing on her best friend’s couch, with nothing to do but start crunching the numbers. She focuses on the loss of life and potential of henches, Meat (the bodyguards/muscle), and innocent bystanders. When she starts blogging about her unsettling findings, she comes to the attention of Leviathan, Supercollider’s arch-nemesis. She and Leviathan become a fascinating team, and her path takes her in an unforeseen direction.
I loved the characters, I loved the ideas, I loved the writing, I loved the pacing, I loved the amount of thought that went into this and how much it made me think. I loved everything about this book, and I can’t wait to see what Walschots does next.