I received a gifted galley of SIGN HERE by Claudia Lux for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, PRH Audio, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

SIGN HERE follows two interlocking storylines. Peyote is a man on the job, a job that has him working on the fifth floor of Hell where he is tasked with striking deals with the living. It’s quite literally hell, so not the best of places to work but in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t the absolute worst level of hell to be stuck on. Still, there is an out available and if he can strike just one more deal with the final member of the Harrison family, he has options.

The Harrisons are a fairly typical family on the surface, mom and dad, sister and brother. When they head off for a summer at the lake with their daughter Mickey’s new BFF Ruth, there is hope for a good family vacation. Problem is Pey, and his coworker Cal, have plans that are a bit different. As things unfold it turns out there are a lot of secrets in the Harrison family closet.

I didn’t know much about this book going into it, but I was quickly sucked into the story. Pey is an interesting character to hear from and his portions of the book are very conversational as he introduces the reader to hell and to all that makes it a very unpleasant place to be. Sure, his job puts him in the role of a sleazy salesman with hidden consequences to every deal, but you can’t help but kind of like the guy too.

The Harrisons have a lot to uncover and their portions of the book come through like a typical domestic thriller with secrets from both the present and the past coming to light as the story unfolds. It took a while for it to get going and for me to see where this part of the story was going to take me, but I did enjoy some of the twists the story took.

This is a hard book to define – Pey’s portions definitely have more of the quirky, dark humor talked about in the synopsis, while the Harrison family portions were more the gripping thriller. In the end, it was a very enjoyable read suitable for the fall season without being spooky.

Sign Here by Claudia Lux is a fun, quirky, paranormal mystery perfect for this Halloween season. There is a great mix of murder mystery and paranormal...things. One of the things I loved was the character depth. Their feelings and actions seemed real and everchanging as circumstances and revelations came to light. The depiction of hell makes me hope the author has more stories like this to write.

Have you ever wanted something so badly, you’re willing to make a deal with the Devil to get it? Or a devil anyway, the big guy is pretty busy. Hell’s representatives are always ready to answer your call; in fact, they can’t wait - every signature they gather ensures them at least one more day’s safety from the torture chambers.
And that’s all most of them want. Most of them. A select few, however, a very determined few…
Well, I’m not going to tell you, spoilers, darling. Let’s just say those select few have something much more interesting on their Level Five issued tablets.
A twist on the typical Faustian trope, and managing to incorporate both pitchfork sharp humor and genuine pathos, Sign Here both breaks the mold and shines it up as a still- relevant foundation for cross-genre stories written by authors who know how to use it as exactly that: a foundation.
Especially good for your spooky season TBR.

Ever imagine what Hell would be like? Think of it like an office. Each floor running different tasks, and people always will to die for a good deal. Sign Here by Claudia Lux is part humor, part mystery, and even a little bit of love story drama. This book was an interesting take on the deals people make and the people in Hell who manage them. Peyote wants out, what will he do to get there? Who will he make a deal with to get out? Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy! Worth the read!

Short synopsis: Peyote Trip works as a deal maker in hell, trying to get one more Harrison family member to sell their soul to accomplish his goal.

My thoughts: Okay, I loved this concept and it was executed so well. The idea of making a deal with the Devil (or in this case a corporate department making deals in his place) not knowing what tricks he might have up his sleeve.

This was like two stories in one. That of Peyote and his goal to get people on earth to make deals, along with his new trainee Calamity. And the Harrison family as they make their way back to their New Hampshire home for the summer, where years before Silas’s brother murdered their teenage friend.

The transition from Hell to dearth was done so seamlessly and I loved getting all the multiple perspectives. The characters were so well thought out and presented that I was hanging on the edge of my seat excited to find out what happened with each.

There were definitely some laugh out loud moments at what hell was like. A corporate ladder, the pens that never work, a car alarm that wouldn’t turn off, and the heater that never stopped running. Some of these definitely would be my own personal hell!

Read if you love:
* Multiple POV and short chapters
* Dark humor and sarcasm
* Murder mystery
* Side stories
* Family Drama

This book hooked me from the very first page! I loved the concept and I loved the characters and how the whole story was woven together.

I thought I knew what this book was going to be when I picked it up. "Oh," I said. "Office Space in Hell." It wasn't quite that, and while I want to say, "No, actually, it's Glengarry Glen Ross in Hell," it's that, and so much more. This book is half workplace comedy, half heartrending family thriller. It is in turns hilariously funny and deeply affecting, and my laughter was often followed by shocked gasps or those short, sharp exhalations you make when someone has just ripped your heart out. It's dark and unflinching in its depiction of human weakness but also full of hope and the possibility of redemption. I loved this and I want everyone to read it.

Wow this book was something else. I feel like it was in the same style as a lot of Grady Hendrix's books.

I loved the whole idea behind this book a person who works in hell giving deals for exchange of souls. The levels of hell were so interesting and I really wish we got to explore them more. I think they are more interesting than the deals themselves. I really liked the multiple point of view it gave us so many characters to follow each having their own things going on in their lives.

Cal however confused me. I feel like she was such a difficult character to understand and get a grasp for.

Our main character I struggled to feel connected to them. I felt more connected to the actual family we saw than the main character himself. He just felt flat and didn't show a personality.

The mystery in this plot was interesting and while I saw part of it coming I didn't see all of it. It was a quick read and I would probably read something else written by this author.

I still can’t believe this was a debut novel! Claudia Lux needs to be writing books for the rest of her life because if she can write such a fun novel that allowed me to escape from the stress in my life with such ease.⁣
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The story focuses on Peyote, a person living in Hell, who has worked his way up to the ranks by getting humans to sign their souls to the Devil. He just needs one more soul from the Harrison family to sign their life away for the redemption he’s been waiting for. However, nothing is always what it seems—if this is Peyote’s plan, he needs to act quickly because the Harrison family does not appear to have any reasoning for signing such a dangerous contract—yet.⁣
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For those who watch the show Human Resources (the spinoff of Big Mouth) on Netflix, SIGN HERE is a darkly humorous and twisted ride that feels like it’s in the same universe. Like I mentioned earlier, this book was a fun escape—but it won’t be for everybody, so just know it’s more along the lines of satire and drama than thriller. I can’t wait to see what Claudia Lux has up next for readers. SIGN HERE is an awesome Halloween read!

Sign Here reminds us that we should always read the fine print before signing a contract.

The story feels like someone stuck a modern Dante’s Inferno on the set of The Office. It’s weird, subversive, sometimes (darkly) funny, often gruesome, and occasionally confusing.

Considering we were based in hell, I thought the setting needed more atmospheric development. I didn’t get much sense of what this place looked like or how it worked. My mind just kept giving me an office building with an elevator requiring keycards to the various floors (levels). But maybe that was the point?

The characters and the mystery are entertaining, in a morbid way. I actually felt more sadness for Peyote than anything else.

While not what I expected, overall an enjoyable read.

"A darkly humorous, surprisingly poignant, and utterly gripping debut novel about a guy who works in Hell (literally) and is on the cusp of a big promotion if only he can get one more member of the wealthy Harrison family to sell their soul.

Peyote Trip has a pretty good gig in the deals department on the fifth floor of Hell. Sure, none of the pens work, the coffee machine has been out of order for a century, and the only drink on offer is Jägermeister, but Pey has a plan - and all he needs is one last member of the Harrison family to sell their soul.

When the Harrisons retreat to the family lake house for the summer, with their daughter Mickey's precocious new friend, Ruth, in tow, the opportunity Pey has waited a millennium for might finally be in his grasp. And with the help of his charismatic coworker Calamity, he sets a plan in motion.

But 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."

It's a workplace comedy and a Faustian bargain and a family drama all in one!

Reminds me of a modern Screwtape Letters. I have a little too much evangelical trauma to enjoy this one, but I think other readers will enjoy this book!

So, I want to say up front that I enjoyed this story. There are multiple POVs and timelines and I enjoyed seeing how they were all going to come together. We have family drama mixed with murder mystery and fantasy. And all of these elements come together to create a really compelling story of family secrets and deals with hell. Not going to lie, I am still confused by some of what went on with the ending. There is a lot going on.

What brought this story down some is that I was hoping for a tongue-in-cheek satirical kind of story. This story is marketed as darkly humorous, but I found it to be heavy and sad. So, know that there are dark themes in this book. I also thought there were some pacing issues that make the middle drag a bit.

SIGN HERE by Claudia Lux is a clever, entertaining and darkly humorous debut novel with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Told from multiple points of view and set in Hell and on Earth, it is a blend of murder mystery and dysfunctional family drama. Peyote Trip is climbing the corporate ladder in Hell. He has made it to the fifth level in the deals department, getting people on Earth to sell their souls. If he can get one more member of the Harrison family to do so, he will be on his way to the ultimate reward he has so carefully planned to achieve. Up on Earth, the Harrisons are headed to their lake house in New Hampshire with daughter, Mickey, and her new friend, Ruth. Soon we discover that the Harrison family has its share of issues, including dark secrets that threaten to be unburied. Can Pey seal the deal or will his new colleague in Hell, Calamity, stand in his way? I have to say this is so different from the kinds of book I usually read, but it was surprisingly engaging and unique. I look forward to what comes next from this author. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

Holy shit - what did I just read? That was one helluva ride - to hell and back, quite literally. Amazing pacing and enough campiness to keep me chuckling the whole time while simultaneously being engrossed in the characters and their conflict. Excellent read - perfect for October!

A very clever story with a version of hell that ranges from torture to living a life with only one brand of beer, having access to only music you hate, and pens that never work. Told alternatively from the perspective of Peyote Trip who resides in hell and gets living people to sign away their souls and the Harrison family who has a history of signing away their souls. You will wonder how these stories tie together until the big reveal. I personally enjoyed the stories and work politics of hell the best, but then, work politics is hell. A very creative original story.

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

Peyote Trip may be in hell, but he’s got one of the cushier jobs in the underworld.. the deals department. He also had a plan that may just give him another chance on earth.

I love books like this! I call them “contemporary fantasy” where they are looks at the real current world, but reimagined. The world of hell and it’s inner workings were so interesting, clever, and hilarious to read about. The world building and characters made the book, but it also had a pretty decent and entertaining plot line as well. The ending was perfect and really tied it up for me.

“There’s always been a part of me - an embryo of a thing, some tiny little molecule, translucent and barely beating - that still believes I was not a bad person. That I came here for a good reason. A valiant one.”

Sign Here comes out 10/25.

Claudia Lux takes readers to Hell and back in Sign Here, a twisty, frequently comedic thriller about one family, their secrets and the desperation that leads them to sign away their souls. Peyote Trip, former human and current deal maker, needs just a few more people to sign away their souls in order to secure a promotion to the next, less awful, level of Hell. He's got a secret though: if he can get a Complete Set,--a deal with each Harrison--he'll get the chance to start over on Earth.
The Harrisons are the picture of a privileged nuclear family, but they have secrets, too, beginning with how no one talks about what happened seventeen years ago [text below], what began with the death of a girl and ended with the suicide of the eldest Harrison son. When young Mickey's new friend tags along on the family's six-week summer vacation to New Hampshire, her presence exposes the cracks in this family's facade.
Lux presents a complex story, rich in character background and depth, with several points of view and side stories that all connect in an explosive climax. Sign Here is a masterwork of character and tension made all the more compelling by an irreverent take on the fine art of buying souls for Hell. Sure, Pey and his coworkers deal in souls, but the real trick here is how Lux deftly balances dark humor with generational trauma and packages it all up into a supernatural thriller with a surprisingly big heart.

This book was a wild ride and I could not put it down. For fans of the show Lucifer or The Good Place, this book imagines Hell as a corporate business and Pey's main job on the Fifth Floor is to get poor souls down on Earth to sign away their soul. You get multiple character perspectives from the Harrison Family and the secrets they have kept along the way. Mix in a bit of murder from when Lily and Silas Harrison were in high school together and tragic past that may not have happened as we were told. This book is a captivating debut by Claudia Lux and I can't wait to read more by her in the future.

After meeting Peyote Trip I will never complain about my job being Hell again. Peyote literally works in Hell, specifically in the deals department. When people call upon someone to help them out, it's not the devil that appears it's his little helpers like Peyote to seal the deal, folks sign their soul away for assistance. Peyote is close to the ultimate achievement.. he just needs one more deal with one of the members from the Harrison family. And with the secrets, lies and drama happening with them the time is coming soon for Peyote to make his move. Told between multiple point of views and a dual timeline it often felt like two separate stories. It did come together at the end but there were pieces that didn't click for me. I may just not have caught the nuances of the storyline. And a possible reread may be helpful for me. Otherwise I really enjoyed the novel. I found the plot to be unique and entertaining. Some dark humor and quirky characters. Perfect for fans of Grady Hendrix and Mona Awad.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.