Hell Can Wait

Theodore Judson

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

Maternus, a brute of a Roman soldier who has spent the past eighteen centuries in hell, wants freedom.

Upon reviewing his misplaced records, the bureaucracy that governs the universe has decided that Maternus deserves a second chance at redemption because the brutal soldier also was capable of offering friendship, of appreciating beauty, and even of loving a virtuous woman.

A demon and an angel must take him back to earth, where human passions, virtues and failings have been downsized, and there Maternus, this lion of a man, must pass a series of tests before he can earn a place in paradise with a girl he saw only once but who is nonetheless the focus of his existence.

Review by Paul Lappen (310511) Rating (9/10)

Review by Paul Lappen
Rating 9/10
This modern-day fantasy story is about a soldier from ancient Rome who has been given a second chance.

Maternus (mentioned in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) has spent the last 1800 years in Hell because his file was lost. When it is retrieved and processed, he gets a chance to prove that he is not just a killing machine. When he was alive, there were a number of instances where Maternus would kill only those who deserved to die, and spare the innocent. But Mr. Worthy, an angel, and Banewill, a demon, make the stakes very clear to Maternus. If he loses his temper, and lets out his inner warrior, even once, a new, and very permanent, level of Hell will be created just for him. Is Maternus sent back to the days of the Roman Empire to show that his soul has not totally vanished? He is sent to present-day Aurora, Colorado.

Mr. Worthy sets up Maternus (now Matthew August) with an apartment, and a janitor job at the local middle school. Maternus is also given the ability to read, and he is introduced to the local public library, where he spends much of his time. There he meets Stephen and Shen, both residents of a local rooming house. Stephen, who is white, is one of those who is constantly writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper about some Major Crisis (next week it will be some other Major Crisis). Shen, who is black, is very handsome, and attracts the ladies like flies to honey. He is also a poet, performing at local poetry nights, which Maternus attends.

Mr. Worthy and Banewill give Maternus several seemingly impossible tasks to perform. They include bringing some joy and companionship into the lives of Edith Pink, a student at the school where Maternus works, and Margaret Lambkin, a resident at a local nursing home. Both Edith and Margaret are the sort of people for whom the description "mean, rotten and nasty" is much too generous. Through it all in this strange new world, Maternus is comforted by the memory of Maria, a woman he met during his soldier days, and whom he has never forgotten.

This story is surprisingly good. It's got heart, it's got intelligence and it says a few things about present-day America. The reader will not go wrong with this one.
Paul Lappen (31st May 2011)