Amind-bending, riveting debut…Part thriller, part family drama, with a dash of horror thrown in, and it works beautifully. Engaging characters (even in Hell!), impeccable plotting, and plenty of twists will keep you reading all night.”

pleasure of signing four Harrison generations. One more, and he will have a complete set, just what In one, we meet Peyote Trip. He works on the fifth floor of Hell. Meaning he has survived the worst. Now, he is one of those guys that offered you an out when things are bad as long as you sign your soul on the dotted line. He enjoys his trips to earth to get his marks. Pey has in his sights a big target: the Harrison family. Peyote needs a fifth-generation member to sign the contract and he knows he is close to achieving it when a new employee lands on fifth with him. Her name is Calamity and despite him knowing better, he can't seem to stop from wanting to help her. Among other issues I had with this book, I wasn't a fan of how the author made Cal have an argument with Peyote on the topic of sexism in Hell despite there being multiple female authority figures in power. I was expecting there to be more Hell-ish lore (the Devil, God, Heaven, more about the layers) as was promised, but only got paragraph after paragraph of various condiments spilling on important work papers, mildew-y towels, and a broken AC/heating unit. YAWN. The mention of her father brings up a great deal more about the influence of her parents. “As the child of a nonfiction writer and a poet — Jean Kilbourne and Thomas Lux — I was taught from a very early age that words contain so much more than their meanings. From childhood, my mother’s pioneering work in media criticism and feminist activism taught me how to observe and interpret the world, to recognize not only what is being said between the lines, but also the power of the things left unsaid. My father’s prolific career gave me an early and deep love of poetry, and appreciation for all the things language itself has to offer.This is not an easy book to categorize, which is part of what makes it such a compulsive read. Claudia Lux has written an incredible novel that has a little bit of everything: thrilling twists, a fast-paced plot, lots of hidden agendas, dysfunctional family drama, and sharp, witty writing. Despite literally being set in Hell, this is not a bleak, heavy novel. It’s funny. And on top of everything else, it’s a moving story with a surprising amount of heart.

As soon I read the first line of Sign Here, I wanted to read more. It turned out I did have a lot of ideas about what Hell might be like. Author Claudia Lux managed to replace many of them with some of her own.

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What about the mighty, dysfunctional, estranged Harrisons? The family is all set to take a family vacation at their New Hampshire house! Lux's take is fresh and complex, with deep character development and a plot that will keep readers guessing." - Booklist There are too many POVs, short, impactful chapters, interesting, flawed, peculiar characters in this novel. And surprise, surprise: the incidents take place in both hell and earth. In one storyline, we follow Peyote, a dealmaker from Hell whose job is to sign as many souls into Hell as possible. He is forced to work with Cal, another dealmaker, but they are keeping secrets from each other. In another storyline, we follow the Harrison family as they go to their summer house for their annual vacation. But secrets abound there too. Lux brilliantly combines satire, suspense, and pathos in her remarkably assured debut...balances the whodunit plot and her antihero's quest perfectly as the action builds to a surprisingly moving place. Readers of paranormal crime series such as Jim Butcher's Dresden Files will be eager to see what Lux has up her sleeve next." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

I liked both timelines. I wanted Peyote to get his fifth generation for sure. None of the Harrisons were very likable yet I started to care for them. Well maybe not all of them, since Silas was kind of creepy around Ruth. time, Pey has to keep an eye on his human souls, one being the Harrison family, which he has had the I think we started out on an interesting path. But kept getting side roads that you thought would all lead to the same location but didn't. A lot of those roads were completely unnecessary and avoidable.

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I love writing for so much more than telling a story — and I really love telling stories! I love the way certain words feel in my mouth, I love how they can string together to imitate the increased pounding of a heartbeat or the deep breaths of a languid summer afternoon. I love onomatopoeia (a word my dad used to make me spell before he’d buy me whatever sugary thing I was begging for — very effective) and double entendres and saying just enough to make the reader experience my point, instead of reading it. So a lot of my writing starts there: with the words themselves. I don’t think I was expecting Sign Here to have as much depth as it did, maybe because of how playful and cheeky the cover art was, though also as a result of the early comparisons. There are so many mentions of the comedic beats of the story, which are definitely present and exceptional, but comparatively little about the its emotional impact, which I found a be substantial by the end. Despite being an agent of Hell, Peyote tries to treat both his “clients” and his co-workers with dignity and honor, especially when it comes to helping his new co-worker, Calamity, adjust to the myriad annoyances of life on the fifth floor. Peyote and his peers bring five pens everywhere, because the first four will never work. If a soul hates country music, it will be the only station available on their radio and it cannot be turned off. No food is truly hot or cold, and neither is any living space. Lux’s Hell is the epitome of absolute discomfort, like an itchy wool sweater on a humid day.

although they are always budding heads, Pey’s life in Hell is going just as planned until the new addition As for complaints? Well they say the devil is in the details, and there are some details that needed to be fleshed out and others that didn’t always bear up under closer scrutiny: **SPOILER** if drinking the water in hell makes people lose their memories, it shouldn’t have made a difference that Peyote drank coffee or beer instead, since both are made with water. The memory-wiping effect should have still occurred. Also, several times screaming matches were happening where others clearly would’ve heard - sound travels - yet somehow no one did. They’d have had to be deaf! , but these were minor issues for me. I thought it was an entertaining story and a promising debut. I’ll definitely be watching for Claudia Lux’s next book! This is one of the rare moments where a book is completely original. I can't relate it to anything and that deserves high praise.

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This book has a clever premise and a solid mystery with some twists that will keep readers guessing and others that were somewhat predictable. The suspense built slowly, but steadily. Friendship, family, lies, death, grief, loopholes, deception, morality, and much more are at the heart of this story. The world-building is done well, but this is a slow-paced novel that took a while to draw me into the story line. The chapters are short and the dialog felt natural and consistent for each character. The ending left me with a few questions that weren’t resolved, but I admired how the author brought the two storylines together. There are threads woven into the plot that added depth and complexity. J]ust like on Earth, nothing in this hilarious and surprisingly sweet journey through Hell goes as planned.” Well, you’re right. That’s Hell. At least the top floors of it. Your priests and grandmas have good intentions—the ones who don’t wind up here—but their job is to keep you decent above ground, and if they said Hell was a never-ending brunch, you would be out there stealing and raping constantly.