Sign Here

September 1, 2022

DEBUT In Lux's debut novel, cubicle-based demons jockey to be the next to make infernal deals for the souls of humans, who now make their marks on tablets instead of contracts. Antihero Peyote Trip--all the demons have fabulous names--finds his plan to lay low and exploit a loophole to escape Hell jeopardized by the arrival of the new girl in his office, Calamity Ganon. Meanwhile on Earth, Peyote's plans to claim all the souls in an entire family are challenged by a secondary revenge plot that has little to do with Peyote's office drama, down below taking up his attention. In Peyote and Calamity's chaotic, petty Hell, the byzantine power plays can be a little hard to follow, but usually with funny results whenever a scheme comes to a head. Primarily a dark comedy, gore and sexual content are over-the-top when they come up. VERDICT A light entry in the collection for the reader who misses when Christopher Moore wrote about vampires.--Aaron Heil

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 19, 2022
Lux brilliantly combines satire, suspense, and pathos in her remarkably assured debut. Peyote Trip literally works in Hell—in the Deals Department, where his job is to get people to sign away their souls. Trip and his colleagues, who have the ability to read the prayers of the desperate, can trick them into signing a binding document without sweating the fine print. To be promoted, Trip needs to land one more soul. He’s already ensnared four generations of the Harrison family; binding the soul of a member of the fifth generation would make a “Complete Set,” an achievement that would allow his memories of all the suffering he’s inflicted to be wiped away. Meanwhile, chapters told from the perspective of various Harrisons focus on a murder 20 years earlier for which Philip Harrison, “a wild child back in the day, always taking girls for rides on his motorcycle,” was charged. Lux 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. Agent: Lucy Cleland, Kneerim & Evans.

September 15, 2022
Peyote Trip is a dealmaker on the Fifth Floor of Hell. With no memory of his previous life, he travels to different places and times on Earth, seeking humans who would give their souls for what they want. Calamity Ganon--whose name is a Legend of Zelda reference--is his companion. New to the Fifth Floor, Cal has worked her way up through the ranks in her quest to escape from the abominable Downstairs. Back on Earth, the Harrison family is off to a vacation in New Jersey, and each of them provides a perspective on what's unfolding there. The main conflict in that story revolves around Ruth Caroway, a charismatic young girl who affects each Harrison differently. Meanwhile, Peyote has tempted several generations of the family, and he's got a new target--but which one? The two stories intertwine, building suspense along the way. While the concept of Hell as an office building has been done, Lux's take is fresh and complex, with deep character development and a plot that will keep readers guessing.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.