"Hench" by Natalie Zina Walschots

 

Publisher: William Morrow

Copyright: 2020

ISBN: 9780062978578

Hench is a delightful book that tells the tale of a temp agency worker who works for the criminal establishment, as the blurb says "even criminals need office help..."

The protagonist Anna is working though a temp agency for criminals in a place where people are tested at puberty to see if they have any super abilities. If you do then you get to be either a super-hero or a super-criminal, if you are neither then you are a regular person which typically seems to mean you are either a target or will end up as collateral damage when the former two groups fight. At the beginning of the story gets a job with an up-and-coming criminal. But then she gets injured by a so-called hero and while she is recovering she begin researching things and it turns out when she compares injuries that she's the lucky one. The story itself from that point on revolves around her essentially getting revenge on this supposed "hero" after assessing all the damage that he is actually done in the name of justice.

This is a very interesting take on the super-hero / villain genre as the effects of their epic battles are never looked at. Don't believe me, just think of any Marvel comic book, movie (and DC for that matter too). The heroes and villains are fighting each other, buildings are falling down (and you'd expect there to be people in these buildings right, after all that what buildings are built for), cities are being destroyed, etc. etc. ad nauseam but who cleans it all up, pays for it etc.

This is the authors first novel, and it is a wonderful debut. I am definitely looking forward to any future novels, as she leaves us with an interesting cliff-hanger.