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Lux’s debut novel offers a truly original vision of hell and of selling one’s soul. Having worked for centuries in the deals department on the fifth floor of Hell, Peyote “Pey” Trip is finally seeing his big plans come together. All he needs is another soul from the Harrison family to complete a “set,” even as he has to mentor new recruit and possible friend Calamity “Cal” Ganon. Meanwhile, the Harrison family heads over to their summer beach house with their daughter’s new friend Ruth, but Ruth is also the catalyst for the unearthing of dark family secrets. What starts off as a nod to Christopher Moore’s supernatural silliness (most pens don’t work in hell, and everyone uses tablet computers) grows darker as the two narratives progress. First, there’s Pey’s point of view, portrayed with dark humor and surprising humanity by MacLeod Andrews, and then there’s Brittany Pressley’s more reality-grounded narration of a family near collapse.