It was a chilly and rainy October night in northern Georgia. Close to midnight Pagiel slipped out his trailer house bedroom window so the squeak of the front door wouldn’t be heard. He retrieved the .38 revolver that was hidden in the glovebox of the car. The old rundown barn would be far enough to muffle the sound and provide a dark and solitary place to end his life.
He sat on the hay-covered floor only a few moments contemplating the relief that would soon come. The voices, the demons, were right. He was ugly, emotionless, and hated. “Just end it,” they said.
He placed the revolver to his right temple and pulled the trigger.
The lethal bullet passed through directly behind his right eye, expanding and expelling the eye from its socket, then intersected the frontal lobe of the brain before exiting the opposite side of his skull, just behind his left eye.
Gray brain matter and blood spattered the century-old beams as Pagiel’s body writhed and twisted. Bloody handprints still remain on the wooden posts to this day. His body clung to life, even when his intention preferred it to end. His right eyeball dangled from the exploded cavity of his face. Endless darkness enshrouded his world. Screams were muted by the soft rain on the metal roof.
He sat, struggling against hope through the night hours. Consciousness came in short bursts, but darkness never ended.
Never again would anything be the same for Pagiel or his family.
This is a story about a young man who attempted suicide. But, it is not a book about an attempted suicide. It is not a “how to” story about beating depression. It’s not even just an exciting true story about new life in the face of imminent disaster. Yes, I suppose this includes all those ingredients, much like a cake includes a pinch of salt, but a cake isn’t about salt.
This story is so much bigger than salt. So much more than another book on suicide. This is a book about the creator of the earth, redeeming a person, in a way that only he can. So when you break this down, this isn’t even an unusual story. God has been doing this since humanity first fell into brokenness in the Garden of Eden.

Join me in a short walk through Pagiel’s life, death, and rebirth into new life.

Step back in time with Simon and build incredible friendships, and sometimes, terrible enemies, with people whose names you’ve heard, but you never really knew. How well do you know Adam, the Adam of the Bible, the first man? Do you know how many kids he had? Do you know how long he lived?
How about Noah? Did he build that ark by himself? What would it be like to actually spend years living with him? Or what would it be like to marry his sister? Would you even like the guy as a friend?
Who were the Nephilim? Did Noah, or Simon, ever know any of them?
Then there’s Abraham. Do you know where he grew up? What was he like as a teenager?
I’ll bet you never thought about it.
Well, this is a fictional, yet accurately factual, adventure series that follow our friend Simon back in time to get to know, personally and sometimes even intimately, the people who formed our history in the Bible.
The stories are filled with action, violence, love, lust, and bloodshed. Hold on tightly; the drama will continue from one generation to the next.
Those who read the Simon Series always say the same thing; The books bring the old characters to life in a fresh way. Reading the Bible’s Old Testament is like reading dry history. It often seems to be a long list of names, times and places that we can’t relate with. But the Simon books bring the people to life, dramatic, adventurous, and violent life.
Go with Simon; I promise you’ll never see the “dry history” the same again.