Thaxson Patterson II ‘Devil’s Maintenance’ Review

Written by: Myra Gabor

The Devil is in the details. In this case, Daniel Edgar Vincent Ivan Liberty (D-e-v-i-l). He is not a creature of Hell, but a man of this Earth. He’s a human computer who utilizes 100% of his brain, which means that he has all the details worked out to get what he wants. And his mirror image, the people around him, will do whatever they have to in order to get what they want.

There was a time when people believed that the Devil was real. Then came the age of science when people rationalized everything. They scoffed at the idea of a Devil. “Enough bad people in the world”, they said, “we don’t have to have a boogeyman”. Thaxson Patterson proposes that the Devil is real. And just like the Devil of history, he likes to play with people.

Mr Patterson has given us a wonderfully original novella for even proposing a human devil. The story is full of delightfully sly comments on modern society. He also shows us that Government officials sure do like titles. We have Greg Huntsman, NSA Chief Information Executive Officer and Ray Peterson, NSA Chief Information Executive Director. What are their jobs and what do they do, you ask. Well, Greg is responsible for information technology. It takes three full lines of description to tell us what Greg’s job encompasses, yet it boils down to his being in charge of emails. It takes Ray twelve lines of print to say how he’s prepared for this current mission, even though he admits he doesn’t know what the job is. There is a comment on why the IRS and Secret Service get 5-star accommodations while the NSA has to make do on a budget.

But it’s not all sweetness and light. There is a dark theme and some dark moments running through the story.

I can easily recommend this for you to read. Like his publisher says in the blurb: I look forward to reading more by this author.

Order it here.

Rating: 5/5