Starter Villain

Charlie Fitzer, ex-business reporter, spouse, and caregiver to his now-deceased father, is in reduced circumstances. Now living with his cats Hera and Persephone in the old family home co-owned by his half-siblings (who want to sell it), he barely scrapes by as a substitute teacher. He hopes to change his circumstances by acquiring a revered local tavern whose owner is retiring—a long-shot rendered even longer by a denied bank loan.

Meanwhile, his long-estranged uncle Jake Baldwin, billionaire owner of a parking lot empire, has died. Jake's assistant Mathilda Morrison approaches Charlie with a proposition; represent Jake at the memorial service, and he will receive enough money from the estate to buy out his siblings, get his loan, and realize his dream. No brainer, right?

But the funeral is attended by thugs, all peculiarly obsessed with confirming Jake really is dead—one even tries to stab the corpse! Afterwards, Charlie's house is destroyed by a bomb. An intruder, later found to be a government agent, is blown up with it, and Charlie is framed for the deed. What gives? Mathilda and his cats set him straight. Turns out Jake's parking lot holdings were a front for his real career as a supervillain. Mathilda was his chief assistant, and cats Hera and Persephone are genetically modified, super-intelligent spy cats, who had long kept tabs on Charlie for Jake. Moreover, Jake had enemies, who are now Charlie's enemies: the Lombardy Convocation, an organization of rival villains with whom he has long fought a private war. These are dastardly, devilish mega-corporate types, in comparison to whom Jake was practically an angel.

Charlie, Mathilda and the cats take refuge in Jake's Caribbean island volcano lair, powered by geothermal energy from an active volcano and guarded by intelligent dolphins. The others try to get Charlie up to speed on everything, as he's received an invitation he can't refuse to the Lombardy Convocation's annual retreat in Italy. There he's presented with a stark option; join—and pay a ruinous membership fee—or else. The "or else" may happen anyway. For starters, a private meeting with the head of the Convocation ends up with the latter dead, and Charlie framed for the deed. That seems to be happening a lot, lately.

Back at the island, Charlie and his allies prepare for the inevitable showdown. He retaliates for an attack on the island by the new head of the Convocation by destroying his enemies' spy satellite with a space laser, cutting off the baddies' communications with their operatives—a pod of genetically enhanced whales. An apparent accommodation is reached. Charlie will give the Convocation what they most want—their cache of Nazi war plunder Jake was storing for them (long story)—in return for calling things even. No one trusts anyone, so it's plain how that will pan out in the long run, but Charlie figures it will buy him more time.

Most of the island staff is evacuated for safety, and Charlie greets his unwelcome guests. The head baddy, betraying his fellow convocation members, eliminates much of the opposition—but the cache is found empty (also a long story), and he is not happy. He targets Charlie's staff, whose refuge is known to him, for death, which ... doesn't work. Charlie's dolphins, whose loyalty he had won by settling a strike on terms favorable to them, have suborned the enemy whales. Plus, the baddy's chief aide, previously suborned by Mathilda, takes him out. All seems resolved.

But Charlie, feeling in way over his head, decides he isn't really cut out to be a supervillain. Which is just as well, given his discovery that he has been a stalking horse all along for a conspiracy between the deceased Jake, his old friend the supposedly deceased former Convocation head (not dead after all), and Mathilda to take out the rest of the Convocation. Which has worked. Mathilda can manage things from here on out very well, thank you.

Charlie's severance package includes the clearing of his name, his cats' safe house (to replace his own bombed out home), ownership of the tavern he wants, and, eventually, getting his cats back as well. Hera and Persephone, once all the clean-up is done with, are quite happy to retire from the supervillain business, too. All's well that ends well!

Terrence Miltner in Booklist notes that the author "again" (as in The Kaiju Preservation Society) "examines tropes in a tale of an ordinary individual being cast into an extraordinary situation with his trademark quick pacing, clever banter, and ability to find humor in desperate situations." He concludes that "[w]ith a ... clever premise, Scalzi's latest will appeal to his legion of fans and draw in new ones.[2]

Publishers Weekly calls the book a " clever, fast-paced thriller" that subverts classic supervillain tropes with equal measures of tongue-in-cheek humor and common sense. ... Scalzi balances all the doublecrosses and assassination attempts with ethical quandaries, explorations of economic inequality, and humor ... The result is a breezy and highly entertaining genre send-up."[3]

Marlene Harris, in a double-starred "Pick of the Month" review in Library Journal, calls the novel a "story of snark with a heart [that] reminds readers that the logical conclusion of 'dogs have owners, cats have staff' is that cats are management and never let anyone forget it." She characterizes the book as "[c]ombining the sarcastic humor of Scalzi's Redshirts with an origin story for James Bond–like supervillains operating with the competence-porn-level efficiency and work ethic of Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots." She concludes that "[r]eaders of humorous fantasy are sure to love Scalzi’s latest (after The Kaiju Preservation Society) as much as those cats; it’s also for those who enjoy seeing superhero stories folded, twisted, and mutilated and anyone wishing for a righteous villain lair surrounded by intelligent sharks [sic: dolphins]. Highly recommended."[4]

Kirkus Reviews calls the book "one of many available stories about a good-hearted Everyman thrust into fantastical circumstances, struggling to survive as a fish out of water, and, while well executed for its type, the plot doesn't go anywhere that will surprise you." It "serves as a follow-up of sorts to Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022) in that both are riffs on genre film tropes. The current work is fluffier and sillier than the previous novel and, indeed, many of Scalzi's other books, although there is the occasional jab about governments being in bed with unscrupulous corporate enterprises or the ways in which people can profit from human suffering." The reviewer concludes the novel is "[f]un while it lasts but not one of Scalzi's stronger books."[5]