-
Hench
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Alex McKenna
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $34.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
-
-
How does one make Kaiju unappealing?
- By Jim on 03-20-22
By: John Scalzi
-
Dungeon Crawler Carl
- A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure
- By: Matt Dinniman
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot.
-
-
A refreshing take on apocalyptical LITRPG
- By Jason Baisden on 03-01-21
By: Matt Dinniman
-
The Last Human
- A Novel
- By: Zack Jordan
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth - that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist.
-
-
Half way through and giving up.
- By The Kindly One on 05-21-20
By: Zack Jordan
-
All Systems Red
- By: Martha Wells
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All Systems Red is the tense first science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries. For fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.
-
-
Good...but...
- By Steve on 07-20-18
By: Martha Wells
-
Not Even Bones
- Market of Monsters, Book 1
- By: Rebecca Schaeffer
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nita doesn't murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet - her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they've been "acquired". Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother's victim, she ends up sold in his place - because Nita herself isn't exactly "human". She has the ability to alter her biology, a talent that is priceless on the black market.
-
-
Oh snap
- By ray.ashleym on 01-27-20
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
-
Pure Science Fiction
- By Leif on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
-
-
How does one make Kaiju unappealing?
- By Jim on 03-20-22
By: John Scalzi
-
Dungeon Crawler Carl
- A LitRPG/Gamelit Adventure
- By: Matt Dinniman
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot.
-
-
A refreshing take on apocalyptical LITRPG
- By Jason Baisden on 03-01-21
By: Matt Dinniman
-
The Last Human
- A Novel
- By: Zack Jordan
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth - that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist.
-
-
Half way through and giving up.
- By The Kindly One on 05-21-20
By: Zack Jordan
-
All Systems Red
- By: Martha Wells
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All Systems Red is the tense first science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries. For fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.
-
-
Good...but...
- By Steve on 07-20-18
By: Martha Wells
-
Not Even Bones
- Market of Monsters, Book 1
- By: Rebecca Schaeffer
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nita doesn't murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet - her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they've been "acquired". Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother's victim, she ends up sold in his place - because Nita herself isn't exactly "human". She has the ability to alter her biology, a talent that is priceless on the black market.
-
-
Oh snap
- By ray.ashleym on 01-27-20
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
-
Pure Science Fiction
- By Leif on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
Soon I Will Be Invincible
- A Novel
- By: Austin Grossman
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo, Paul Boehmer
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doctor Impossible, evil genius and diabolical scientist, has tried to take over the world in every way imaginable, but this time is going to be different. He'll have to contend with Fatale, however, a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world's most famous superteam. She's a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built for the next generation of warfare.
-
-
Now that I have you at my mercy. . .
- By Brad W. on 07-02-07
By: Austin Grossman
-
Ravenous
- A Zombie Apocalypse LitRPG Necrotic Apocalypse, Book 1
- By: David Petrie
- Narrated by: Travis Baldree
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Digby Graves, a deceased medieval peasant with delusions of grandeur, is trying to figure out how the hell he ended up in Seattle 800 years after his death. Also, why does he have necrotic magic coursing through his zombified body? Added to that is the fact that he made a terrible first impression the moment he woke up by lunging at the first person that came into biting range. Now, the curse he's unleashed is loose in the world.
-
-
Finally, a Zombie Apocalypse written by an Author who graduated high school.
- By Christopher on 03-27-21
By: David Petrie
-
A Deadly Education
- A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts; I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, making myself the dark queen of the world.
-
-
Intersting concept, way too much self pity
- By Rune on 10-13-20
By: Naomi Novik
-
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
- Monk & Robot, Book 1
- By: Becky Chambers
- Narrated by: Em Grosland
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
-
-
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
- By Daniel Cascaddan on 07-15-21
By: Becky Chambers
-
Forging Hephaestus
- Villains' Code Series, Book 1
- By: Drew Hayes
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 26 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gifted with meta-human powers, Tori Rivas kept away from the limelight, preferring to work as a thief in the shadows. But when she's captured trying to rob a vault that belongs to a secret guild of villains, she's offered a hard choice: prove she has what it takes to join them or be eliminated. Apprenticed to one of the world's most powerful (and supposedly dead) villains, she is thrust into a strange world where the lines that divide superheroes and criminals are more complex than they seem.
-
-
A Nice Surprise with some Really Fun Characters
- By Small Mountain on 09-29-17
By: Drew Hayes
-
The Broken Room
- By: Peter Clines
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hector was the best of the best. A government operative who could bring armies to a halt and nations to their knees. But when his own country betrayed him, he dropped off the grid and picked up the first of many bottles. Natalie can’t remember much of her life before her family brought her to the US, but she remembers the cages. And getting taken away to the Project with dozens of other young children to become part of their nightmarish experiments. That’s how she ended up with the ghost of a dead secret agent stuck in her head.
-
-
What is this?
- By Austin on 03-01-22
By: Peter Clines
-
Sufficiently Advanced Magic
- Arcane Ascension, Book 1
- By: Andrew Rowe
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 21 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Five years ago Corin Cadence's brother entered the Serpent Spire - a colossal tower with ever-shifting rooms, traps, and monsters. Those who survive the spire's trials return home with an attunement: a mark granting the bearer magical powers. According to legend, those few who reach the top of the tower will be granted a boon by the spire's goddess. He never returned. Now it's Corin's turn. He's headed to the top floor, on a mission to meet the goddess.
-
-
Levels doesn't matter
- By P on 01-13-20
By: Andrew Rowe
-
Andrea Vernon and The Big Axe Acquisition
- By: Alexander C. Kane
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The supervillains of DESTRON have conquered the country, The Big Axe has been imprisoned, and the heroes of the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection have been reduced to hiding behind a force field surrounding New York City. And if that's not enough, Andrea Vernon is pregnant. With a Little Axe. But Andrea’s not one to sit on the sidelines. She has to make a plan to save the country, rescue her boyfriend, and figure out what exactly people do with babies.
-
-
Perfect again
- By Tatum on 07-16-21
-
A Master of Djinn
- A Novel
- By: P. Djèlí Clark
- Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer. So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case.
-
-
A huge let-down, 2.5 stars
- By Iben Krutt on 07-12-21
By: P. Djèlí Clark
-
Twilight
- The Twilight Saga, Book 1
- By: Stephenie Meyer
- Narrated by: Ilyana Kadushin
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
About three things I was certain. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him, and I didn't know how dominant that part might be, that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.
-
-
Not impressed with audio book
- By Candi on 09-07-17
By: Stephenie Meyer
-
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter, and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance. But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries.
-
-
A tour de force unimaginably good
- By Joella Berkner on 10-21-21
By: T. Kingfisher
-
Light from Uncommon Stars
- By: Ryka Aoki
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: To escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four.
-
-
Awesome with a few hitches.
- By Levi Fay on 10-01-21
By: Ryka Aoki
Publisher's Summary
“This book is fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell." (Seanan McGuire, New York Times best-selling 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.
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about Hench
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laura
- 11-05-20
Narrator was a major deal breaker for me
This was a first for me in all the books I've gotten from Audible. I always listen to the sample before I buy an audiobook so I know if I'll like the reader. I did that with this one as well, but apparently I didn't get to the parts where the characters were having a conversation. I gave this book about 2 hours before I had to stop listening. The narrator's voice was fine and normal when she was just reading through the story, but as soon as there was dialogue, she would become very (VERY) annoyingly nasally. This was particularly bad when the character named Julie was speaking. It was like the reader was channeling some incredibly horrible sounding young, whiny teenage girl for the intonation. It was awful. I would highly recommend listening to the sample and seeing if there are any parts in it that have conversation between the characters before buying this audible. I will definitely be taking note of this narrator and staying away from her from now on. I will also be reading the book myself instead since I'm still interested.
78 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tiffany
- 12-31-20
Voice acting is not good
I couldn't make it through the first few chapters because the voice actor used such a strong vocal fry for one of the characters. If vocal fry drives you nuts, don't bother listening. The story itself seems really interesting!
53 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HiI'mSkippy
- 01-07-21
Suspenseful, weak ending, over-dramatic narrator
Most of the story is compelling, with a couple of big holes in character development and loose ends that feel like a naked play for a sequel. The narrator sounds more like she's emoting at a table read than reading a book aloud--I found myself reviewing passages to imagine how they'd land if read without maximum emphasis on every word.
40 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lindsey Choi
- 10-10-20
really good
short review before bed and days after finishing. I almost returned it after the first event of potential child abuse. Then another time it was just a mention of child endangerment. just the two times i believe.. But I was caught in the story, curious how it would pan out for the hench. MC really connected with me in her thorough ways. The book has characters who felt like flawed humans, motivated and caring but villainous. I think she is bi which is fine but I didn't see the purpose of her only ever making mental appreciation for so many people. That assessment be off as I don't seek romance in books though, not that there was really much here. I don't know if she should be also recognizing the appearance of more around her other than what she was liking, or not.
I'm going to have to keep an eye out on this author! I'm often looking for good superhero audiobooks that aren't male wish fulfillment or veiled romance. Glad I found it!
32 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julie K Oleson
- 10-20-20
Loved it!
Thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the narration of “Hench.” The writing felt so modern and as though written and spoken by a colleague over brunch with mimosas-a-flowing. The wit and characters were engaging and the sub story lines of workplace dynamics in a male-dominated field rang so true it had my neck sore from nodding in so much agreement. Thoroughly enjoyable!
24 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KayMac
- 09-24-20
On to something big
Telling a funny, clever, coming of age, screwup grows up story while creating an entirely new universe is some tricky business. It’s also likely a lucrative one.
I have no idea why I bought this book. It’s not my usual fare, but I’m so glad I did. I feel like I’ve found the next thing before anyone else.
The narration was good, though about halfway through the book the audio quality goes in the toilet. I blame COVID as it seems to have happened to podcasts, too.
It’s worth suffering through anyway.
Great listen and you’ll be able to say “I read that the week it came out” when it’s at the Multiplex.
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Food Guy
- 12-11-20
Brilliant, tense, inventive, amazing!
I loved it! Perfectly paced. Dynamic, fully developed characters that are consistent with themselves. A well thought out and planned world. Excellent and snappy dialog. A truly grand plot. The narration was great. McKenna did an excellent job portraying the characters and narrating plot. Her voice is expressive and enjoyable.
I want MORE!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda S. Rucker
- 10-06-20
An unexpected joy
In the day of considering the other side of Heroes, this offers a fascinating look at how the actions of Superheroes might go sideways. and what the consequences of that accidental slippage might just bring about. I highly recommend it.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous
- 01-07-21
Original and compelling - very fun read!
Excellent storytelling, and an original perspective in a genre I believed to be fully played out. One of those where you get to the last page and immediately check to see if the next book is out yet.
Alex McKenna gives a fabulous performance as well, adding depth to character emotions and nailing the story pacing. Highly recommend and I look forward to more from Natalie Zina Walschots!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- daniel
- 09-24-20
Three words: Lobotomized Super Villains!
You know somethings gone wrong with the world when the superheroes are lobotomizing super villains...
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Thomas
- 05-18-21
An interesting dive in the superhero genre
I was drawn to the unique premise that it was a hench instead of a main villian or hero, this is what drew me to a another book with a similar idea redshirts by John scalzi, a great book.
I quite liked the writing, the conversations and the few funny moments. I would say anyone who is a fan of the superhero genre too take a look at this book.
The only downsides come from the audio version where the narrator doesn't do the most convincing male voices...
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sarah
- 11-03-20
a very very clever and refreshing read
I don't know what made me choose this novel it's not my usual genre but I just completed this for the 2nd time and it is an incredibly clever and fresh take on the 'superhero/villian' genre. not only is the overall arc of the story ingenious and unexpected, the characters are nuanced, unique and well conceptualised. underneath all of this excellent writing and story this is a contemporary feminist masterpiece in disguise. not like anything I have read before. I absolutely love its unexpectedness and its rawness.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Carol
- 01-01-21
Enjoyed it enough to finish it in 2 sittings.
Thought it would be a silly distraction and instead found a real book worth recommending to others.
Would love to see a sequel.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- R. Maines
- 10-12-20
Interesting
A nice take on superhero story from the point of view of a Hench for supervillains. Anna is a great protagonist as she discovers how much the actions of superheroes lead to a high cost in damage and human lives.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 10-02-20
fantastic!
A great story for people who love villains!
delicious Dom/sub subtext that left me craving more!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jacquelyn
- 02-01-22
Data is data no matter which side you're on
In an alternate reality where teenagers are routinely screened for 'enhanced abilities' and recruited by The Draft to become superheroes, some are bound to end up being villains. And those villains need henches just like any other organisation needs office workers. Someone to man the reception desk at their high security compound, crunch numbers, enter data, monitor social media trends...
This is where Anna comes in. To Anna data is just data, no matter which side needs it. And if someone is going to pay her to enter in a system from the safety of her home, then she will take the job. Until the job is not so safe that is.
After being injured in the wake of a Superhero's rescue of the victim of a routine kidnapping, Anna starts crunching different numbers. How much damage do Superheroes actually cause? And is it worth it?
Natalie Zina Walschots explores some of those questions that are usually ignored by Superhero pop culture. What happens to the people whose homes/offices/cars are destroyed? What about the people who are just trying to make a living and lose their job when a villain is foiled? Why is a hero's life and loved ones worth more than the ordinary person on the street?
A little long winded at times, but generally humorous Hench is worth a listen* for any comic fan regardless of which side of the DC/Marvel paradigm you sit.
*Note: Be prepared for a limited range of character voices - apparently all females except for Anna have the same nasal twinge and pretty much all guys sound like a prepubescent cartoon character. I guess it kind fits the genre but was a little annoying at times. Also, a fierce Maori woman with traditional face tattoos is unlikely to have an upperclass English accent...
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Darya Toumar
- 05-18-21
fresh, fun and engaging
A refreshing new take on the super hero genre, I enjoyed this book a lot.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sean Daly
- 04-06-21
Unique and gripping!
Do u cheer for Vader? Did u want Mr Glass to win? Would u champion Victor Von Doom? Do u get behind Butcher and the Boys?
This will be your jam.
As an antagonist..the ‘hero’ is pure twisted idealism. As the central character the ‘villain’ is essentially a fallen pawn who did nothing wrong. This was an amazingly well executed concept and the characters were so relatable and fresh. It’s got powers, it’s got tech and robotics, it’s got politics and government issues, it’s even got humour..dark AF humour!
Well worth the time, would have benefitted from other voices, sounds or even some music but no matter. Great book!!!!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Katherine Cherry
- 01-15-21
A lot of fun.
Loved the evil office politics and bringing the heroes down one annoyance at a time, looking forward to the sequel.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Duncan
- 11-15-20
Great unusual take
Unusual take on superhero tropes with the deal and world building to back it up.