Charlie has had a rough few years. He got laid off from his journalism job, got a divorce, and lost his dad after moving back in to care for his sick parent. All he has now is a substitute teaching gig that barely pays the bills, a house that his three siblings are leaning on him to sell (so they can split the proceeds), and his beloved cat, Hera. When Charlie's long-absent billionaire uncle Jake dies, he doesn't expect much (anything, really), yet he's suddenly thrown into the midst of Jake's not-so-legal business as a *checks notes* supervillain. Yes, complete with spy cats and space lasers.
Before reading this, I knew nothing about this book except the title, the author, and the cover — not my general approach to books, but in this case, it absolutely worked. Starter Villain is fantastic fun from start to finish. Scalzi has a knack for taking a generic guy and throwing him into an insane situation that stretches the bounds of believability for the character but makes perfect sense for the story (see: The Kaiju Preservation Society). Throw in some super-intelligent animals and a few well-aimed jabs at one-percenters and mega-corporations, and you have one of the my favorite books of the year.
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