Sign Here
by Claudia Lux
On sale today!
Working in Hell is, well, hell. The temperature is never quite right, puddles of indeterminate depth randomly appear, coworkers are horrible and bosses worse, Jägermeister is the only drink besides water available, and don’t even ask about the food. Peyton Trip has suffered through these discomforts (and worse) for eons, but he has a plan—he just needs to get one member of the Harrison family to sign away their soul. Cal, a new recruit to the Deals department, has her own secret schemes that could undermine Pey’s carefully laid groundwork.
Unaware that they are marks, the Harrisons—Silas, Lily, Sean, and Mickey, along with Mickey’s new (and first) best friend, Ruth—travel to their summer house in New Hampshire where generations of the family have vacationed. Pey, though, might not be the biggest threat to the family; instead it could be the secrets in their midst.
Sign Here has such an original premise with details that make hell such a vivid setting (though very disturbing when considering Downstairs where the worst punishment is carried out). The comedy is dark Vonnegut-style rather than LOL humor.
At fourteen, Mickey undergoes the ups and downs of adolescence, idolizing the confident and more experienced Ruth who also makes indelible impressions on the rest of the family as cracks in their relationships allow the past to infect the present.
Pey is a fiendish and manipulative narrator, though sympathetic enough I hoped he escaped hell while Cal thinks she is the smartest person in the room and may be right.
I really enjoyed the book and its messages about love, trust, and redemption. It was a very satisfying read though not light-hearted as I expected. Recommended for readers who enjoy family drama, mysteries, and a touch of something new, and different.
...aka darzy... 