Synopsis
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.
Review
My first five star read of 2026!
I audibly gasped multiple times. I laughed aloud multiple times. I winced multiple times.
This was such an incredible book, one I hadn’t even heard of and only picked up on the strength of the recommendation of its sequel (which I have immediately purchased!) and I’m so, so glad I grabbed it!
It hooked me from the very first page and refused to let go!
This is the most real superhero/villain story I’ve ever come across. Anna Tromedlov is the core character, and I’ll wager most women have felt what Anna goes through at some point or other. The being walked over, the being used as a “pretty face” in a tick box exercise, the having to manage the emotional tantrums of others (often men, often higher in the hierarchy), the being walked over, underestimated, leered at, dismissed, and overall grinding down existence many of us experience in life (and work), and how that can shape us.
Anna is a temp worker. A nameless, minor “henchman” who is part of the frankly ridiculous amount of collateral damage caused by the superheroes of this world. You ever watch the marvel movies and see the heroes being cheered on even as they smash up cars, buildings, and whole cities?
This story goes into how that affects people. Not the chosen one heroes, but the regular people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and what it means for them.
It’s for the characters with quieter voices whose lives are still meaningful.
This is not black or white, good or evil thinking. It’s about balancing the scales. Everyone is terrible at least some of the time, and the book does not shy away from that. The obsessions, the lengths we go to mask the truth, to be seen in a certain light, and how propaganda continues that forward. We all have cracks – the best of us, the worst of us – and are all able to be blindsided as they’re forced open.
Anna’s way of thinking slowly changes, as do her plans. As the reader, mine did too. I was rooting for her, for the destruction, for “unspeakable” acts of chaos, and willing her to get a win here and there.
She grows. She changes. This is a story with real consequences – both emotional and physical – and shows how resilient (and brittle) so many of us are.
All of the characters are believable and palpable, and just so real!
The tension and stress of some encounters was so palpable, and the finale in particular had me absolutely on the edge of my seat. It goes into more violence than potentially expected (body horror), but much like Reservoir Dogs, by the time you reach that point, you’re at least partly on board with what’s happening. Which illustrates the entire point of the book perfectly.
This was utterly fabulous from start to finish and I adored every page!
Highly recommend!
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