Hench is a well-written supervillain novel which delves into some deeper themes. The story is easy to get sucked into, the character dynamics are entertaining, and the premise is excellent. However, there is a discrepancy between the star rating I gave this book and how I felt after finishing it. This isn’t the fun, light-hearted tale it appears to be on the surface. Instead of just entertainment, it points out the lack of difference between heroes and villains, at least in this story. It deals with the costs associated with heroes’ actions, what it takes to break a person, and how far someone will go for revenge. And while I enjoyed this part of the story, as the plot neared its climax, I became dismayed by the turn it took. Characters do horrifying things in the name of revenge, and there’s no hope of the good guys winning. And that was my problem with this book: it was hopeless. Everyone worked for their own selfish desires: power, fame, wealth, revenge. “The greater good” is dismissed as an excuse, and mercy, justice, and straight-up human decency are non-existent. Relationships fall apart and are never mended. People destroy other peoples’ lives but never feel more than slight remorse. The further I got into the book, the bleaker and more depressing it got. Spoiler alert – I continually expected it to shift at the end, for there to be victory, satisfaction, or love, but there was nothing resembling a happy ending.

Hench is probably supposed to reflect the world we currently live in. It’s likely meant to expose how everyone is selfish, the media and public perception are untrustworthy, and everyone must find their own justice. But that isn’t our world, and I just found this book depressing. I loved it for the first three-quarters of the book and was fully expecting to write a glowing review. But the irrevocable descent into darkness at the end threw me. However, many other readers did appreciate this. It scratched their itch for revenge and villainy, but it didn’t work for me. So objectively, this is an above-average, unique take on superpowers and villainy; but be aware that this is far from an uplifting story.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 16 religious exclamations; 28 mild obscenities; 18 religious profanities; 13 derogatory names; 31 anatomical terms; 73 scatological words; 118 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore: Characters encounter a badly injured character; a villain starts to make a child cut part of their finger off; a person is killed in a fight, minor detail; multiple characters are killed in a fight, some detail, report of several deaths and injuries; battle results in a few serious injuries, some description; a few reports of kidnapping; a character is kidnapped and interrogated, captors begin to perform destructive surgery on the captured character; report of a death; a character attacks others resulting in property damage; extended battle scene results in a character horrifically deforming another character, these injuries are mentioned/described occasionally through the next 25 pages – this is very disturbing.

Sex/Nudity: Several sexual references; an adult female character invites a man in after going on a date with him, thinks about sex, not explicitly; a few instances where a female character feels attracted to other female characters; a character looks at another suggestively; a male character talks about his ex-husband; report of same-sex marriage; report of adultery; a character gradually develops a crush on a character of the opposite gender.

Mature Subject Matter:

Permanent injuries; death; physical deformities; body horror; torture; same-sex relationships; adultery.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Characters drink alcohol, get drunk.