Hench is a hilarious and snarky novel about a woman who works for a temp agency. The twist is that the temp agency hires henches for villains. Anna is particularly good at data entry.
There is also a temp agency for meat (hired goons) and it’s called The Meat Market.
Hench was recommended to me by my brother-in-law. It’s the perfect mix of bureaucracy and superhero/villainy.
Since I was already reading A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, I decided to listen to the Hench audiobook during my daily walks. It was definitely a great way to experience this novel.
Anna is bored but also likes to play it safe. Unlike her friend June (who does field work), Anna is happy at her laptop. But she’s soon thrown into the fray when her evil villain boss kidnaps a kid. Anna becomes collateral damage when the kid is rescued by a superhero who collides into her and shatters her leg.
Left unable to work, Anna finds herself ruminating on just how much damage superheroes actually cause to their communities. Her data analysis is surprisingly revealing and soon another mad-genius villain is interested in her work.
I mean, come on, this is a novel about a data nerd who is able to weaponize her snark! Totally up my alley.