[The Halo Group 01] • The Tears of Nero

Five strangers. One madman.

Edward, Henry, Franklin, Sadie, and Kelly are complete strangers. On the surface, none of them have any connection to one another, yet they all wake up on an island with no memory of how they arrived there. Their only clue is a note found inside a bottle buried in the sand:

*Dear lambs, I think God is mad at us. If you don't believe it, just look at your own lives for proof. You have all been punished in some way or another. That is why you are valuable to me. You are here to help me understand why bad things happen to good people.* - Nero

Much to their horror, they discover their captor is modeling himself after the crazed Roman Emperor, and that he has every intention of killing them off one by one if they don't learn their true purpose for being on the island. To discover what it is Nero wants from them, the group must face their tragic memories, struggle with their faith, and unearth what links them all together.

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Come to the island and find out...

Praise for Jason Brannon's writing:

**"Jason Brannon shows us a place of reckoning and judgments, of creatures that wait to ensnare us. The Maze is a novel of damnation and deliverance, of corridors fortified with death and spirituality. I found a bit of myself in The Maze."** - Steven Lloyd, author of *The Wooden Box*

**"From his style, you'd think Jason Brannon was the dark double of Ray Bradbury. He cares more about character and realism than most writers I've read and his plots flow like well-orchestrated music. Indeed, Brannon's writing has a classical feel, reminiscent of the best traditional work in the genre, even when he's going for gut-wrenching terror and torture in-extremis." ** - Michael Arnzen, International Horror Guild Award winning author of *Grave Markings (Dell Abyss)*

**"Brannon's work reminds me of the glory days of The Twilight Zone, when it was in black and white and carried bylines like Beaumont and Matheson. Often surreal, sometimes disturbing and sometimes enlightening, there's real substance in his tales that few of his contemporaries can match."** - Mike Oliveri, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of *Deadliest of the Species*

**"It is a rare treat to find a modern writer whose work is truly a mirror of the darkest corners of the world we all share. Every one of his haunting stories is infused with clear ideas and startling notions submerged in a straightforward and engaging prose. His visions linger with you long after the book has been closed."** - Stephen Susco, screenwriter *(The Grudge, The Grudge 2, Pulse, Red)*

**"Biblical prophecies come to life at your local hardware store? What's not to like? Winds of Change is a wild ride and then some. Jason Brannon's characters live and breathe in every story, and his horrors crawl up your spine like an icy finger in the dead of night. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!"** - James Newman, author of *Midnight Rain*

**"Jason Brannon's Winds of Change is the sort of collection that should make it to everyone's must read list. His prose is deceptively powerful and his stories are the stuff that revives my love of the genre."** - James A. Moore, author of *Serenity Falls*

**"Jason Brannon's The Maze has it all; high concept fantasy adventure, vivid descriptions of horrific monsters and torture devices that should make even the most hardcore horror fans quiver in fear, a deeply moving exploration of the motivations of the human heart, and what it takes to transform from a creature that embraces darkness to one that runs to the light."** - Jess Hanna, author of *Adverse Possession*

**"This book is a trip. It's like Edgar Allan Poe meets Lewis Carroll. Surreal nightmares clash with real-world dilemmas in a tale that's as bleak as it is hopeful. A breath of fresh air in the world of edgy Christian fiction."** - Mark Carver, author of *The Age of Apollyon Trilogy*