The Kindle edition of THE CERBERUS PROTOCOL, book one in the HELLstalkers series, is now available at Amazon.com.

December 22, 2011:  International bestselling authors Joseph Nassise and Jon F. Merz announced today the launch of a new series of novels that combine science fiction, horror, and action-adventure into the perfect blend for any genre fiction fan.

HELLstalkers tells the story of an elite group of soldiers brought together to fight an invasion of otherworldly creatures that have infiltrated our world as a result of an accident at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.  Led by former US Army Ranger Memphis Stone, the HELLstalkers unit is comprised of an international cast of former special operations and intelligence operators who are devoted to tracking down and killing the wide array of monsters, aliens, and other creatures that come through portals into our world.

“The best part of this launch,” said Nassise, “is that we are doing it with Barnes & Noble, one of the premier forces in the changing face of publishing.”  The first HELLstalkers novel, THE CERBERUS PROTOCOL, will be available exclusively on the Barnes & Noble.com website for Nook users for thirty days.  After that time, the novel will also be available for other popular e-reading platforms, including the Kindle, the Kobo, and the iPad.

THE CERBERUS PROTOCOL will officially go on sale at BarnesandNoble.com on December 27th.  According to Merz, the series will be “a non-stop roller coaster ride – like the X-Files on steroids.”  Each new HELLstalkers book will feature exotic locations, bizarre villains, crazy characters, and tons of adrenaline-charged action.

Nassise and Merz are no strangers to writing action-packed material.  Nassise’s Templar Chronicles is an international bestselling urban fantasy series in multiple languages with audio rights recently scooped up by Graphic Audio.  Merz’s supernatural espionage Lawson Vampire series is a cult favorite and is headed to television in 2012.  Both authors have also written a number of books in the Rogue Angel adventure series.

Our extremely talented  design team - artist (Brad Cooper) and graphic designer (Taylor Aldredge) - delivered the cover art for HELLstalker book one, The Cerberus Protocol, this evening and I couldn't wait to share it with all of you.  (Trust me, this low-resolution image just doesn't do it complete justice...)

Got a QRcode reader on your smart phone?  Then use the code above to see some supplemental material from the first book in the series...

Is the Large Hadron Collider dangerous? One scientist thinks so...

Looking for some information on what the Large Hadron Collider actually is and why they built it in the first place? Here's an informational video from back in 2007, when the LHC was still being constructed...

Our resident artist, Brad Cooper, has just completed the creation of the official unit patch worn by all of the HELLstalker teams attached to Project Cerberus.

See that funky looking code above?

Over the next several months you are going to be seeing a lot more of them on this website and in the various promotional materials we create to support HELLstalkers.  When you see them, you know some cool, new stuff is available with regard to the HELLstalkers experience!

What, exactly, is it, you ask?  It's called a Quick Response Code or QR code for short and it is a way of delivering content via a mobile network.  You see, most new generation smartphones come with a built-in QR Reader.  By taking a picture of the image through your cellphone's camera when the reader is running, you can have that content automatically delivered to your phone at the touch of a button.  It can link you to a new website.   It can send you a special text message.  It can deliver an  image or an mp3 file or...the possibilities are endless.

From time to time you'll see a QR code appear on this site.  Maybe it will be in a post like the one above.  Or embedded in an illustration.  Or on a banner.  Or a widget.  Or in a twitter message...you never know when one of these will pop up.  Each time they do, however, you can bet that there is something really cool on the other end.

Sometimes we'll be using them to deliver a special message directly to our fans, like information on appearances or special discounts on HELLstalker merchandise. Other times they'll contain exclusive content you can't get anywhere else - maybe background information on one of the characters or organizations that appear in the books, clues to what lies ahead in the story itself, or even audio and video files sent in from HELLstalker units around the world.

Get prepared now so you don't miss out on any of the cool stuff later!

If you don’t have a QR Reader on your phone, you can get one for the iPhone at http://www.apptism.com/apps/quickmark-lite.  QR Code readers for other types of phones can be found at http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-software/

(If you are looking to test it out, the QR code above will take you to this website.  For now, at least...)

On November 23^rd, scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland ran a short test on the newly completed Large Hadron Collider.  For that brief period, protons swarmed back and forth along the seventeen miles of carefully constructed tunnel and slammed into each other with devastating force, generating power the likes of which had not been seen since the moment of the Big Bang.

Just a few short hours.

That was all it took for our world to be invaded.

For months, opponents of the project advocated against its activation. Protesters assembled outside the CERN compound, demonstrating in front of the main gates desperate to call attention to their beliefs of what would happen if the LHC went online.  The international media made a point of highlighting the most inflammatory of the lot, those who felt that starting the billion dollar device would bring an end to the world as we know it.  Their theories for what would cause such a cataclysm were as varied as the protesters themselves, from the creation of a localized singularity to a disruption in the space/time continuum, from global earthquakes to the smiting hand of a vengeful god, angry that man was trying to recreate the very act of Creation itself.

Unfortunately, the truth was worse than what any of them imagined.

During that short test period, the barriers between this world and others weakened.  Creatures poised at the edge of these boundaries since time began took advantage of the sudden opportunity.  In the blink of an eye, they broke through.  In Geneva, the slaughter was absolute. Some of humanity's most brilliant minds fell under the savage assault of demonic creatures whose claws shredded machinery as easily as bodies.

Other portals opened randomly across the globe.  Some popped into existence in the middle of the most inhospitable territory on the planet - the Sahara Desert and the Antarctic ice shelf. But others opened in the midst of major metropolitan cities like London and Moscow.  From out of those portals streamed our worst nightmares, blasphemous beings with a lust for human flesh and suffering.  The first wave were little more than mindless creatures bent on slaughter and mayhem, but later we learned that other things had come through as well, beings with names and intelligence, beings that most decidedly did NOT have the best interests of mankind at heart.

It had almost happened once before, in the aftermath of the last global conflict, but the actions of a dedicated few managed to prevent all out disaster.  Some of those involved tried to forget the awful truth, that there were other-world dangers laying in wait on the periphery of our existence, but a hardcore few took the necessary steps to ensure that if our boundaries were ever breached, there would be a defense.

They established The Cerberus Protocol in recognition of the three-headed dog that guarded the gates to the underworld in Greek mythology, for that’s exactly what the multinational unit would be called to do, guard the earth against the strange and horrible creatures that had invaded it.

My name is Captain Memphis Stone, commander of the Hellstalkers, the armed response unit hastily assembled to face this growing threat.

This is the story of the men and women under my command, those who stand in the gap and shed their blood to protect the rest of humanity from creatures that we never imagined we’d ever face, not even in our darkest dreams.

Welcome to the front lines.