THE POLITICS OF BEING DEAD is Released

Jack Harnette is about to die, but he could never have guessed what was waiting for him. It was not an afterlife of divine joy or unending torment. Instead, it was a crash course on "The Politics of Being Dead" (published by Xlibris). His navigation of the treacherous yet amusing hazards beyond death's veil is the focus of author J. Higgins' darkly humorous new novel, which takes readers to join Jack as he traverses a world of gods and reapers, angels and demons, porn stars and party girls, while learning the secret of existence: "when you're dead and know all the answers, there is no religion, only politics."

The novel follows Jack's journey from the nightclubs of Hell to the courthouse of Heaven and the political steps of Mt. Olympus to a gambling den in Tauterus. He will face adversity, self-doubt, and even love as Higgins indulges in his morbid fascination with death and what comes after, shown through the exploits of the "everyman" protagonist and his guide, the Grim Reaper. Jack's first conundrum is that his file is missing, thus his place in the netherworld is unknown. His fate may lie at the hands of the gods Zeus Jupiter and Juno Hera, but their nasty, millenniums old divorce threatens to rip the political landscape of the Astral Plains apart in the boiling point of their conflict before Jack ever learns his significance. Followed by a pantheon of other gods and historic figures, the world Jack comes to know is far more complicated and entertaining than the world which he left behind.

"I've always had an intense love of Greek and Roman mythology, and always wondered what these gods would be like, and how they would have progressed with the world." Higgins says, explaining that with this story, he explores "going beyond just one culture's beliefs, and how they all may have some connection to each other - just as humans ourselves are connected in some way."

"The Politics of Being Dead"
By J. Higgins
Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 568 pages | ISBN 9781514400951
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 568 pages | ISBN 9781514400968
E-Book | 568 pages | ISBN 9781514400975
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
J. Higgins was born in the county of Shropshire in Britain in 1982 and immigrated to Canada in 1985. Having spent his childhood in the city of Calgary, he moved onto an acreage in his early teens where he began to get into writing. As he grew up, his passion shifted towards music, but as he began to follow in the steps of his father as a tradesman, he began to feel the ambition to write something more substantial than songs. At the age of 22, he met the love of his life, and they currently live in southern Alberta with their two children.

Xlibris Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider created in 1997 by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibris.com or call 1-888-795-4274 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisPub on Twitter for the latest news.

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