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.
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Natalie Zina Walschots
Natalie Zina Walschots is a Canadian author whose work thrives in the space where humor meets insight and the ordinary collides with the extraordinary. Raised in a world of stories and small adventures, she developed a fascination with the hidden corners of familiar worlds, the overlooked, the underestimated, and the unjustly treated. This curiosity became the seed for her debut novel Hench, a book that turns the superhero genre on its head by giving voice to those who are usually forgotten, the henchpeople. Through sharp wit and keen observation, she explores power, loyalty, and the absurdities of modern heroism, all while weaving suspense and humor into a narrative that feels startlingly human.
Hench
In a world dominated by superheroes, the people in the shadows are finally stepping into the spotlight. The Hench series follows the lives of those who have always been overlooked, the henchpeople tasked with doing the dirty work while the heroes take the glory. Sharp, irreverent, and often darkly humorous, the series peels back the glittering facade of heroism to reveal a world of ambition, exhaustion, and the high cost of loyalty.
Hench consists of two books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
