I liked the book, although I do not know exactly why. A central plot is missing, in fact most of the story jumps between episodes, typically right in the action (or more typical: in the aftermath) without ever giving any time to show environment or background.What's more: the characters often act entirely unbelievable, as demonstrated aptly by our hero, who may have common sense, but who sees nothing in signing up with ludicrous supervillains again and again. He even points out that his employer had to be mad to believe to succeed, only to turn around and look for the next one. This, paired with the (entirely understandable) precaution of not talking about each others background, leaves characters as names, running, shooting and dying with little impact on me. The antagonists fare little better as they are the most basic archetypes imaginable, often reduced even further to simple stereotypes.The action jumps through space and time, years go by with the same impact as minutes and the locations switch so often there is never a feeling of being there, which is good, because we never remain there for long.And yet this is an enormously likeable book. The characters may be flat, but they are flat because they should be. The anonymous henchmen that are disposed by the dozen do not need detailed backstorys and a waiting family at home, they should be simple. And despite their simple characters, many of the other henchmen gain a small bit of individuality when speaking and interacting with the protagonist or each other. It makes them individuals without you caring about them enough to really feel their loss once they are (inevitably) killed. The same goes for their opponents who take the typical idea of a spy, a soldier or a villain and run with them.Together with a writing style that gives great dialogue and fast paced action that feels just about right, this forms an entertaining but not very deep book. (review shortened from my blog for brevity)I'm usually not for action and adventure, but there was something about the premise of stereotypically burly, scary killers having such a gentle and intelligent hobby that they like to do in their free time. I'm glad I picked up and read the book, because it was a fantastic read. There were many, many parts in the book where I couldn't help laughing, which was an issue since I read next to my sleeping toddler. Oh, those were the moments I had to put the book away…Anyway, minor spoilers ahead!Overview: The book is told through first person in Mark Jones's point of view, and we follow him over the years as his little reading hobby turns into a powerful force. This book doesn't highlight one event; we get to follow him along as he works for evil villains, gets thwarted by heroic spies, faces injuries and capture, trains future Affiliates (as part of the organization where evil villains hire their henchmen), and of course, as he reads and analyzes books. This anti-hero goes from being the guy you barely notice to the guy you're rooting for. The actual timeline is starting with the birth of the book club (the meeting of two key characters: Mark and Mr. Smith) and the evident display of power of the book club. One of the things that made the later part of the book enjoyable was that characters introduced earlier weren't completely forgotten and would be brought back. As I said, there were times where I was outright laughing. Much of the humor is dark and twisted, yet it still works. I enjoyed that many of the characters were evil and were unapologetic for that. It's just who they were. Mark is so likable despite what he does. As he says, it's just a job, nothing personal; he needs to pay his mortgage. I'm pretty sure I missed out on some funny stuff since I'm American and only partly familiar with some British terms (if you don't know British terminology, it's still a great book)! My version of the ebook had many typos, and the author addresses this in a note at the end. The typos didn't bother me too much since I was already having issues with cross-the-pond word confusion anyway.At the start, there were some parts where my eyes glazed over and my mind started drifting before there would be a part that brought me back. There also were a few strange transitions/time jumps from one major job/event/situation to the next that could have used a heading or so, but I quickly caught on.This book should be a definite read if you like action and adventure, dark humor, and anti-heroes. Even if you don't, you'll find it a refreshing change (I did) with a unique premise. Gore level: 4 out of 5 (people get mangled and killed)
What do You think about The Henchmen's Book Club (2000)?
So funny...It really made me laugh and put a new spin on adventure books.
—EdMorquecho
Really good fun. A quirky twist on the formulaic spy adventure.
—Bill
