You Are Dead. (Sign Here Please) by Andrew Stanek is a cute story of one man fighting the bureaucrats of existence. You see, semi-hero Nathan Haynes gets killed by a serial murderer intent on increasing his score on the serial-murderer-hall-of-infamy, but when Nathan reaches the afterlife he discovers our entire existence is run by bureaucrats, and if he does not sign his Form 21B, Decenent Acknowledgement and Waiver of Liability he can’t really stay dead. Since Nathan thinks the form might be a ploy to bilk him out of his house, he refuses.
The story is cute enough to entertain one on a brain-dead evening. There are some funny bits, some attempts at political satire, some man-vs.-machine moments. I liked the part where author Stanek (who has a degree in microbiology from Caltech) explains that molecular biology, cosmologists, and deep sea oceanography are all scams, jokes to get funding forever while publishing articles using science buzzword bingo.
You Are Dead has a beginning, middle and it ends, no cliffhanger. (Although we do wonder how Nathan will dispose of the ever-higher pile of bodies in his back yard.) I was surprised to see this is part of a series of now five books as the plot and running jokes about bureaucrats are a bit thin for that.
Don’t read You Are Dead looking for great character development, although our semi-hero Nathan does get a little less gullible and a little more clued-in after he dies three or four times. You will root for him and cheer when he gets tricky. The head bureaurocrat Director Fulcher is probably the most interesting character who does grow through the book as he develops a very strong desire for revenge and to personally trick Nathan into signing.
Don’t read You Are Dead looking for great writing or great comedy although it’s cute, funny enough to enjoy and written well enough to be easy and pleasant. The author turns everything on its head, which is funny the first dozen times. The town of Dead Donkey is a running farce that you can enjoy without searching for deeper meaning or political insights.
Do read You Are Dead. (Sign Here) if you enjoy ridiculous stories and want an easy book for that evening read after work.
3 Stars
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