Book Recommendation: ‘Sign Here’ by Claudia Lux

Recommended by TINA KAKUSKE, Former Director, Door County Library

Imagine that hell is a place with six floors. Downstairs is the worst, and the sixth floor is where the executive class exists. But even on the upper floors, it’s still hell: The air conditioning does not always work; the only alcoholic drink is Jägermeister; and the coffee machine is forever out of order.

Peyote Trip, recently transferred to the Deals Department on the fifth floor, has discovered a loophole in the endless forever that is hell: If he can get a person from each of five generations of one family (a Set) to sell her or his soul in return for a request to change circumstances, those people will be returned to Earth to live again as human beings.

Sign Here is a modern interpretation of hell, wrapped around the story of generations of a family and their all-too-human way of getting through life. Throw in a couple of coworkers and a boss from, well, hell – all with their own agendas – and the result is a fast-paced, clever mystery/thriller/fantasy debut novel.

This book is for those who enjoy stories that are edgy, quirky, dark and tongue-in-cheek humorous. Ultimately, Sign Here compels the reader to think about what a wonder it is to be human, and to realize that the distinction between good and evil is not as clear as we expect it to be.