Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots
Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots
1 Rating(s)
List: $29.99
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Hench
A Novel

Author: Natalie Zina Walschots

Narrator: Alex McKenna

Unabridged: 14 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 09/22/2020


Synopsis

“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. 

About Natalie Zina Walschots

Natalie Zina Walschots is a writer and game designer whose work includes LARP scripts, heavy metal music journalism, video game lore, weirder things classified as “interactive experiences,” and, unfortunately, experimental poetry. Her first novel, Hench, was a finalist on the 2021 season of Canada Reads and nominated for a Locus Award for Best First Novel. She plays a lot of RPGs, participates in a lot of Nordic LARPs, watches a lot of horror movies, and reads a lot of speculative fiction. She lives in Nova Scotia with her partner and two cats. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Riley on January 02, 2024

the villain origin story i've always wanted!!! after an encounter with a superhero that leaves her leg shattered and with a permanent limp, Anna sets out on a path for revenge and to expose the collateral damage and pain inflicted by superheroes.......more

Goodreads review by Emily on October 04, 2021

I'm not huge on superheroes but this one had a lot of potential! Strong beginning, weak ending.......more

Goodreads review by David on August 04, 2020

Hench Aug 2020 Yikes, two stars. I really wanted to like this one too. I won it on Goodreads giveaway. The premise sounded so interesting and promising. And it started out just so. Great Point of view, strong female character, good writing craft. The first part of the book had me all the way while sh......more

Goodreads review by Katie on November 22, 2022

November 2022 Reading Vlog: [URL not allowed] Reread this to annotate and see if it should go on my top 10 of 2022. While it didn't meet that criteria, I stand by this book whole heartedly. It's not 5 stars per se. The chapters are far too long and it doesn't solidify any depth with the char......more

Goodreads review by Anne on December 31, 2020

It's got a great premise and the story is really interesting. But. The ending is weird. Now, it doesn't end on a cliffhanger or anything, but there was just something dissatisfying about it when I closed the book. It feels as though this was going to be a series of books instead of a one and done, if......more