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Annie Maple was a 29-year-old San Francisco underachiever, a college dropout living in the shadow of her genius older brother. Then she died and went to Hell—classic Christian Hell with fire and sulfur and devils, a place she never imagined might truly exist. Annie can’t remember how she died or was sent there. But the systems governing Hell are starting to run down, giving her a chance to escape.  

Joining other “shaken loose” souls from different eras in search of an exit, Annie treks across volcanic deserts, flees marauders, and confronts an existentially depressed Satan. Hell, she learns, is an unjust place filled not only with truly evil people but with billions of average souls who simply didn’t happen to be Christian. Seeking the courage to transcend her past failures, Annie must ultimately choose between returning to life and challenging this system of divine injustice.

Dive deeper into Hell

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 Advance Praise

"Not a word is wasted in DeBare’s intense and challenging… debut about a college dropout navigating a decaying Christian hell in search of redemption and justice."—Publishers Weekly

"A propulsive, provocative novel that explores the afterlife, faith, and redemption in visceral prose. Annie's gripping story will linger with you long after reading." —Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City

"The Devil is tired and God is uncaring. In this wonderful novel, a small band of the damned finds that, as we have always suspected, it is easier to get into Hell than out.  DeBare has created a compulsive read, a narrative full of surprises about a woman who becomes more herself after death than she ever was in life." —Karen Joy Fowler, author of Booth and a Man Booker Award finalist 

“DeBare's thoroughly original romp through hell is by turns funny and unnerving, and ultimately moving.” —Yael Goldstein Love, author of The Possibilities

“Through the eyes of an everywoman, Shaken Loose challenges the justness of Christian Hell.” —Rebecca Gomez Farrell, author of the Wings Rising series