Sign Here

Product Information

I’d love to reiterate how amazing it is to receive be able to talk about this book and my process like this: it is an absolute dream come true. I know that not all responses to my work will be positive, and I’ve made peace with that (just ask my therapist!). But knowing that these people I made up are out there in the world, in some way impacting strangers far and wide, is thrilling and humbling and I couldn’t be more grateful. I’ve also been blown away by the encouragement I’ve received from other writers. office trying to gain customers. I could even relate to the repetitive music that plays in Hell to my own For months, I was looking forward to Sign Here, the debut novel by Claudia Lux. Apart from its eye-catching cover, the synopsis sounded wholly original: A guy working in Hell? That could be both fun and horrifying! I was thrilled to get an advance copy of this novel, even if it turned out to be a very different book than I’d expected.

The bars serve only Jäegermeister instead of cold beer is definition my own kind of hell! Happy belated birthday to this dark comedy meets twisty thriller! 🥳🍺 One of my favorite memories from writing this book was one night, when I was wrapping up, I decided to write the first sentence of the next chapter, just so I could have something to start off with when I returned. So there I was, a little loopy from sitting alone in my study for hours on end late into the night, and I got this kind of cheeky, mischievous feeling, like right before you challenge someone to eat a pepper you know is super-hot, and I typed: ‘Calamity Gannon, human 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. 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.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. For example, the very first note I have in my phone for Sign Here is Ruth’s line, ‘Do you ever just want to rip your nails through someone’s face?’ I had that thought (to be clear, it was a random thought, not a desire or intention!) liked the way it sounded and then started speculating: what kind of person would ask that question? What does it say about them and their internal world, especially if they are young and female? How would another person respond, and what kind of relationships would influence that response differently? Then I design characters in answer.

My first issue with this book was with the plots. No, you didn't read that wrong; this book had TWO plots that had almost nothing to do with one another. A clever, fun, and uniquely original story about a guy, Peyote, who works in hell. His job is to collect souls from desperate people on earth. He's been working on the troubled, wealthy Harrison family for decades. He only needs one more Harrison soul to complete the coveted set of 5. It seems like you read two other stories: one of them is family’s drama and mystery’s unfolding. The other one is a trip to the hell, a place where pens, coffee machines are not working, All of these characters, and more, are about to collide in a genre-busting powerhouse of a novel – part thriller, part wrenching family drama, a book that starts out as satire and then veers into something much deeper: an exploration of the nature of love, time, loss, and family ties, of both morality and mortality. Darkly funny, unexpectedly poignant, it might just have you examining your own assumptions about what makes us human – and what might make you “sign here.” THE INSPIRATION BEHIND SIGN HERE 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.This was an intriguing debut novel. I liked the description of how Hell works in this world, just like any

If you’re looking for an intriguing mystery with its own take on Hell’s customer service, I recommendBut things aren’t always as they seem, on Earth or in Hell. And as old secrets and new dangers scrape away at the Harrisons’ shiny surface, revealing the darkness beneath, everyone must face the consequences of their choices. 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. 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. Finding out about Lily and Silas’ past gives the reader pieces for the big reveal, but Ruth led me on a

Lux's take is fresh and complex, with deep character development and a plot that will keep readers guessing." - Booklist A] darkly funny, deeply considered novel that kept me up well into the night as I sped through to the ending.”Peyote not only has a job to do, he wants a promotion. But first he needs to get one more member of the Harrison family to sell their soul. Like everything in Hell (and on Earth) this is easier said than done, especially with a family that has so many secrets. There were some aspects of the ending that I completely missed. I came to GRs for answers but the book is so new, there's not a lot of discussion or questions about it. Or maybe it's just me! I was definitely confused on some parts and not sure I interpreted the ending correctly. I thought it was an entertaining story and a promising debut. I’ll definitely be watching for Claudia Lux’s next book!